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¡¡¡¡More than 50,000,000 people live in the rainforests of the world and most of them do not hurt the forest they live in£®They eat the fruits that grow on the forest trees, but they do not cut them down£®They kill some animals to eat, but they do not destroy them£®
¡¡¡¡When we cut down the rainforests, we destroy these forest people, too£®In 1900, there were 1,000,000 forest people in the Amazon forest£®In 1980, there were only 200,000£®
¡¡¡¡The Yanomami live along the rivers of the rainforest in the north of Brazil£®They have lived in the rainforest for about 10,000 years and they use more than 2,000 different plants for food and for medicine£®But in 1988, someone found gold in their forest, and suddenly 45,000 people came to the forest and began looking for gold£®They cut down the forest to make roads£®They made more than a hundred airports£®The Yanomami people lost land and food£®Many died because new diseases (¼²²¡)came to the forest with the strangers£®
¡¡¡¡The Yanomami people tried to save their forest, because it was their home£®But the people who wanted gold were stronger£®
¡¡¡¡Many forest people try to save their forest£®Chico Menders was famous in Brazil because he wanted to keep the forest for his people£®¡°I want the Amazon forest to help all of us forest people, Brazil, and all the Earth,¡±he said£®A few months later, in December 1988, people who wanted to cut down the forest killed Chico Menders£®
¡¡¡¡In Borneo, people were cutting down the forest while the Penan people tried to save their rainforest£®They made blockades(Õϰ)across the roads into the forest£®In 1987, they closed fifteen roads for eight months£®No one cut down any trees during that time£®
¡¡¡¡In Panama, the Kuma people saved their forest£®They made a forest park which tourists pay to visit£®
¡¡¡¡The Gavioes people of Brazil use the forest, but they protect it as well£®They find and seed the nuts which grow on the forest trees£®
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