Having spent time in the Philippine Islands during World War II, Franz Ucko was fortunate to come in contact with a little-known tribe known as the pygmy Negritoes or the Agta Negritoes. He found them to be a self-sufficient group, having littleMoreHaving spent time in the Philippine Islands during World War II, Franz Ucko was fortunate to come in contact with a little-known tribe known as the pygmy Negritoes or the Agta Negritoes.
He found them to be a self-sufficient group, having little contact with the civilized world with the exception of loggers who often passed through their camps as they cut down and hauled the huge and centuries-old Tangili tree, found only in the Sierra Madre rain forest and much prized for the quality and scarcity of its wood. He was given the opportunity to return to visit these same people over forty years later and again found them self-sufficient as well as gentle, personable, and hospitable, but he was appalled to find that the Tangili tree and the rain forest in general was rapidly being logged to the point of total depletion.
He is justifiably fearful that should this practice continue, the once-awesome Sierra Madre rain forest will soon be nothing more than a barren wasteland.