That’s a strong assertion. It was less of a myth 200 years ago (prior to the Industrial Revolution) and even less of one further back.

People may have generally existed in these regions, but the scope of ecological impact & evolutionary pressure is more recent.

The Romans were deforesting the Mediterranean 2000 years ago. Aboriginal Australians continually burnt the land for 50,000 years creating the desert Australia you see today. Humans have been majorly changing the environment for a very long time.