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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a small glade deep in the Peruvian rainforest when he heard movements coming closer through the dense forest.

He realized he was surrounded, and stood still.

“One person positioned, directing with an arrow,” he states. “And somehow he became aware of my presence and I began to flee.”

He ended up confronting the Mashco Piro tribe. Over many years, Tomas—who lives in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—had been virtually a neighbour to these nomadic tribe, who reject contact with outsiders.

A new report issued by a advocacy group claims exist no fewer than 196 termed “remote communities” in existence in the world. The group is considered to be the largest. The study states a significant portion of these tribes may be wiped out in the next decade unless authorities don't do further actions to defend them.

It argues the biggest dangers are from logging, extraction or exploration for petroleum. Remote communities are extremely susceptible to basic sickness—consequently, the study notes a risk is presented by exposure with religious missionaries and digital content creators seeking clicks.

Recently, Mashco Piro people have been venturing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, as reported by residents.

This settlement is a angling hamlet of seven or eight clans, sitting high on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the center of the of Peru Amazon, a ten-hour journey from the most accessible town by canoe.

The territory is not designated as a preserved area for isolated tribes, and logging companies function here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the noise of logging machinery can be noticed around the clock, and the Mashco Piro people are seeing their woodland disturbed and devastated.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants state they are divided. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they hold deep regard for their “relatives” who live in the jungle and desire to defend them.

“Permit them to live in their own way, we can't modify their traditions. For this reason we keep our distance,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the threat of conflict and the possibility that deforestation crews might introduce the community to sicknesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the village, the Mashco Piro appeared again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a woman with a young girl, was in the jungle collecting food when she heard them.

“We heard shouting, shouts from individuals, a large number of them. Like there were a whole group yelling,” she told us.

It was the initial occasion she had encountered the tribe and she fled. Subsequently, her thoughts was still pounding from fear.

“Because operate timber workers and firms cutting down the woodland they are fleeing, perhaps due to terror and they come close to us,” she explained. “We don't know what their response may be to us. This is what scares me.”

In 2022, two individuals were assaulted by the Mashco Piro while catching fish. A single person was hit by an arrow to the gut. He recovered, but the other man was found deceased after several days with several arrow wounds in his body.

The administration has a strategy of non-contact with remote tribes, establishing it as prohibited to commence interactions with them.

The strategy began in the neighboring country after decades of lobbying by community representatives, who observed that initial contact with secluded communities lead to entire groups being eliminated by disease, destitution and malnutrition.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau community in the country made initial contact with the world outside, half of their people succumbed within a matter of years. A decade later, the Muruhanua people experienced the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly vulnerable—epidemiologically, any interaction could spread illnesses, and even the most common illnesses may wipe them out,” says Issrail Aquisse from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or interference can be highly damaging to their existence and well-being as a community.”

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