A human rights group reported that dozens of uncontacted people who live deep in the Peruvian Amazon have been photographed a few kilometers away from numerous logging regions. They are thought to belong to the world’s largest uncontacted tribe.
More than fifty Mashco Piro people are visible in the photos made public by Survival International, a human rights organization based in London that was established in 1969 and advocates on behalf of Indigenous, tribal, and uncontacted peoples. The images are taken in the southeast Peruvian Yine town of Monte Salvado.
Officials stated that “in a different incident, another group, consisting of 17 people, appeared near the neighboring village of Puerto Nuevo.” “The Mashco Piro have been known to express anger towards loggers on their land; the Yine, who are not uncontacted, speak a language related to Mashco Piro.”
This is a clear illustration of the “urgent need to revoke all the logging licenses in the area, and recognize that the territory belongs to the Mashco Piro people,” according to activists from Survival International, who claim to be the biggest uncontacted tribe in the world.
Within the Peruvian land belonging to the Mashco Piro people, several logging companies possess timber concessions, which are areas managed outside of government regulations and used for resource extraction. The closest logging area is located only a few miles from the Mashco Piro filming location.
According to Survival International, “one company, Canales Tahuamanu, that operates inside the Mashco Piro territory, has built more than 200km of roads for its logging trucks to extract timber.” The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has approved it for its purportedly ethical and sustainable operations in that region, even though the Peruvian government admitted eight years ago that it was clearing trees within Mashco Piro area.
According to a statement released by Alfredo Vargas Pio, President of the local Indigenous organization FENAMAD, “this is irrefutable evidence that many Mashco Piro live in this area, which the government has not only failed to protect, but actually sold off to logging companies.” The fresh photographs were released. The Mashco Piro’s territorial rights must be acknowledged and legally safeguarded because “the logging workers could bring in new diseases that would wipe out the Mashco Piro and there’s also a risk of violence on either side.”
Since then, Survival International has urged the FSC to revoke its certification of the logging company’s operations, although it’s unclear if the business intends to comply.
These amazing photos demonstrate the vast majority of uncontacted Mashco Piro people who live only a few miles away from the location of the loggers’ planned activities. According to Survival International Director Caroline Pearce, “In fact, one logging company, Canales Tahuamanu, is already operating inside Mashco Piro territory, which the Mashco Piro have made clear they oppose.” “Humanitarian calamity in the making—it is imperative that the loggers are driven out and that the Mashco Piro people’s territory is finally adequately safeguarded. If Canales Tahuamanu’s certification is not revoked by the FSC right away, the certification process as a whole will be mocked.
With an estimated 750 members, the Mashco Piro tribe is said to be the biggest uncontacted tribe on Earth. They live deep within the rainforests of southeast Peru, while the exact number of members is unknown.
