If you have a traditional Melipona farmer, that is a resource to be treasured, and yes, a few of us would like to go out and see how he does it. There is a group very focused on these wonderful little creatures.
http://www.fundacionselvamaya.org
Yes, good dairy goats need some infrastructure and management and do not produce well on just our foilage alone. The locals build infrastructure pretty quick with a machete and collected wood from the monte (the woods). I have not found much local knowledge on dairy goats though. Perhaps in other areas. My job for today is to find 2 goats to help us eat the forest before the forest eats us. But I know what you say about the specific spirit of these forests.
We have high fencing up around the living area to protect the gardens and the fruit trees. Yes, a lot of hunting in these woods, and bear in mind a lot of hunting stories. And the legends are woven in to the community here - a sometimes funny mix of hardly recognizable church stories, Mayan stories and other legends clearly from the conquistadores. These chismes are told and retold like fishing stories, or sailing stories. So, I don't think you will be eaten, but a fence around the homestead is a good idea. I have a small moringa forest growing and the deer love it, so, they are now fenced out because they eat it down to the ground and don't share anything (grins).
I've been searching for forest management literature or knowledge here. Aha, while I am on literature, do not believe any of the rainfall or climate charts ... they are all very wrong somehow. So, back to forest management - I have not managed to find good information as to best practice here. It is as if these forests are so huge, and so lasting, that people expect them to be there forever, so, managed forests is a strange idea. So, we have a piece where we've removed the undergrowth and removed the mess of small trees and we're just watching that area to see what it does.
