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Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a modest open space within in the Peruvian jungle when he heard footsteps approaching through the lush jungle.

He became aware he was hemmed in, and halted.

“One person positioned, aiming using an projectile,” he states. “Unexpectedly he noticed that I was present and I began to flee.”

He ended up encountering the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—who lives in the modest settlement of Nueva Oceania—served as virtually a neighbour to these nomadic tribe, who avoid engagement with strangers.

A recent report issued by a advocacy group states exist at least 196 termed “isolated tribes” in existence in the world. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the most numerous. The report claims 50% of these communities may be decimated within ten years if governments fail to take more to protect them.

It claims the most significant risks stem from timber harvesting, digging or exploration for crude. Isolated tribes are extremely at risk to basic disease—therefore, the study notes a threat is posed by interaction with religious missionaries and digital content creators in pursuit of engagement.

Lately, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania more and more, based on accounts from inhabitants.

This settlement is a angling hamlet of a handful of clans, located elevated on the banks of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the of Peru jungle, 10 hours from the most accessible town by watercraft.

The territory is not designated as a safeguarded reserve for isolated tribes, and timber firms work here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the sound of logging machinery can be noticed day and night, and the Mashco Piro people are seeing their jungle disrupted and destroyed.

Among the locals, residents state they are conflicted. They fear the tribal weapons but they also possess profound regard for their “brothers” who live in the forest and wish to defend them.

“Let them live in their own way, we must not change their way of life. That's why we keep our space,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the damage to the tribe's survival, the risk of conflict and the chance that timber workers might introduce the community to diseases they have no defense to.

During a visit in the settlement, the group made themselves known again. Letitia, a young mother with a two-year-old girl, was in the forest collecting produce when she detected them.

“There were shouting, shouts from individuals, a large number of them. As if it was a whole group calling out,” she informed us.

That was the first instance she had met the group and she fled. Subsequently, her thoughts was still pounding from terror.

“Since there are loggers and firms destroying the forest they are fleeing, perhaps due to terror and they end up in proximity to us,” she explained. “It is unclear how they will behave to us. This is what frightens me.”

Recently, two individuals were assaulted by the tribe while fishing. One man was struck by an arrow to the stomach. He recovered, but the other man was found lifeless days later with several puncture marks in his physique.

The Peruvian government follows a strategy of no engagement with remote tribes, establishing it as prohibited to initiate contact with them.

The strategy began in the neighboring country after decades of advocacy by community representatives, who observed that initial contact with remote tribes could lead to whole populations being wiped out by sickness, destitution and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in the country came into contact with the outside world, a significant portion of their population succumbed within a short period. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people experienced the similar destiny.

“Secluded communities are very susceptible—in terms of health, any exposure could spread illnesses, and even the basic infections could eliminate them,” explains Issrail Aquisse from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or interference may be very harmful to their life and health as a society.”

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