New Trades, New Employments and New Services
As the colonial government tightened its grip on forest resources, traditional livelihoods linked to forests were disrupted. Indigenous communities lost their rights to hunt, gather, or cultivate their ancestral lands under colonial laws that deemed these activities illegal. However, this disruption also paved the way for new economic opportunities.
Many communities began to explore trade in various forest products, transitioning from subsistence agriculture to trading roles. For instance, the Mundurucu peoples in Brazil shifted from subsistence living to collecting rubber latex to sell to traders as the demand for rubber increased in the mid-nineteenth century.
In India, while some communities faced significant loss of traditional rights, others found ways to adapt. European powers centralized trade, granting large firms the monopoly over forest products, forcing pastoral communities into labor under difficult conditions in plantations and factories. Although these new jobs provided income, they often came with harsh working conditions and limited freedoms, highlighting the duality of progress and oppression during the colonial period. Overall, this economic transformation via forest exploitation serves as a crucial lesson on the impact of colonial policies on local communities and their environments.