Final answer:
People in Papua New Guinea remain hunter-gatherers due to a complex understanding of their environment and a preference for sustainable living. They consciously maintain this lifestyle despite challenges from encroaching societies and governmental pressure. Their adherence to traditional practices emphasizes the continuing relevance of a hunter-gatherer existence.
Step-by-step explanation:
One reason why people in Papua New Guinea are still hunter-gatherers is closely tied to their deep understanding of their environment and the sustainability practices that their way of life supports. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle allows for a flexibility and adaptability to the land, relying on the natural resources available without overusing any single source. They maintain a vast knowledge of local flora and fauna, identifying over a hundred sources of plants and animal foods. This is not simply a fallback to primitive ways but a conscious decision, understanding the environmental limits and the fitness of such a lifestyle to their particular needs. Contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, like those in Papua New Guinea, thus stand as a testament not only to a past way of life but also to alternate, sustainable forms of human existence.
Moreover, contemporary challenges such as encroachment by farmers and herders, along with government attempts to settle them permanently, often lead these communities to resist and persist in their traditional practices. Their diet is based on what can be hunted or gathered, mirroring the paleolithic diet that promotes health benefits aligned with our past evolutionary adaptations. The persistence of hunter-gatherer societies, against the pressure to change, reflects the viability of their lifestyle in certain ecological contexts and underscores a complex interplay between culture, environment, and survival.