The Ese’eja live in the Tambopata region of south east Peru and Madidi, Bolivia. 60 years ago there were around 15,000 Ese’eja in Tambopata, but today there are just a few hundred, as diseases introduced by foreigners and the decimation of the rubber boom have taken a heavy toll. The largest Ese’eja population is found in Bolivia.
The Ese’eja have retained their traditional use of rainforest resources, but these have evolved significantly from the ways of their ancestors. The Ese’eja were originally nomadic – they are wonderful river navigators, and would move their settlements along the rainforest rivers, never depleting resources in any one location. Because they are now living in permanent settlements, the stocks of wild animals, birds and fish that they have traditionally hunted have diminished, so they also now raise domestic animals, including cattle. In order to do this, they have cleared strips of the rainforest to establish pasture – further damaging their own traditional environment. Their traditional hunting methods have also evolved, with bows and arrows and (for fishing) harpoons being largely replaced by shotguns and fishing lines. Sadly, these more efficient forms of hunting and fishing that have further diminished their wild prey.
However, the Ese’eja are working hard to conserve their environment and traditions, and now own or are active in running a number of eco-lodges and conservation centres. They have always used plants from the forests for medicinal purposes but in recent years that tradition was in danger of not being passed on to younger generations. While the benefits of western medicine were not in doubt, a programme to address the potential demise of the Ese’eja’s plant medicines was set in place. As a result, a book, recording the traditional medicines and their uses has been produced and given to all the Ese’eja in Peru and Bolivia. And in Infierno the Ese’eja maintain a witchdoctor’s garden, with over 180 different species of plants.
In addition to subsistence agriculture, the Ese’eja sell the brazil nuts that they collect in the rainforest, and some of them travel up river to hunt, fish and collect turtle eggs. The rainforest also provides the Ese’eja with materials for their crafts – they make baskets, hats, bows and arrows, fans and hammocks – and the wood and palm thatch for their houses.