Peru: New Images Show Uncontacted Tribe Dangerously Close to Logging Concessions

by Survival International / July 16th, 2024

Extraordinary new images released today show dozens of uncontacted people in the Peruvian Amazon, just a few miles from a number of logging concessions. ©Survival

Campaigners say they’re a graphic 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, which Survival believes is the largest uncontacted tribe in the world.

More than 50 Mashco Piro people have appeared near the Yine village of Monte Salvado, in SE Peru, in recent days. In a separate incident, another group, of 17, appeared near the neighboring village of Puerto Nuevo. The Yine, who are not uncontacted, speak a language related to Mashco Piro, and have previously reported that the Mashco Piro angrily denounced the presence of loggers on their land.

Several logging companies hold timber concessions inside the territory that belongs to the Mashco Piro people. The nearest is just a few miles from where the Mashco Piro were filmed.

Mashco Piro men on the banks of a river near near the Yine village of Monte Salvado, in Southeast Peru. ©Survival

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. It is certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) for its supposedly sustainable and ethical operations there, despite the Peruvian government acknowledging eight years ago that it is cutting down trees within Mashco Piro territory.

Survival International is calling on the FSC to withdraw its certification of the company’s operations. More than 8,000 people have already lobbied the FSC.

Alfredo Vargas Pio, President of local Indigenous organization FENAMAD said today: “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 logging workers could bring in new diseases which would wipe out the Mashco Piro, and there’s also a risk of violence on either side, so it’s very important that the territorial rights of the Mashco Piro are recognized and protected in law.”

Survival International Director Caroline Pearce said today: “These incredible images show that very large numbers of uncontacted Mashco Piro people are living just a few miles from where loggers are poised to start operations. Indeed one logging company, Canales Tahuamanu, is already at work inside Mashco Piro territory, which the Mashco Piro have made clear they oppose.

“This is a humanitarian disaster in the making – it’s absolutely vital that the loggers are thrown out, and the Mashco Piro’s territory is properly protected at last. The FSC must cancel its certification of Canales Tahuamanu immediately – failure to do so will make a mockery of the entire certification system.”

Survival International, founded in 1969 after an article by Norman Lewis in the UK's Sunday Times highlighted the massacres, land thefts and genocide taking place in Brazilian Amazonia, is the only international organization supporting tribal peoples worldwide. Contact Survival International at: info@survival-international.org. Read other articles by Survival International, or visit Survival International's website.