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Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a small clearing far in the Peruvian Amazon when he noticed footsteps coming closer through the dense jungle.

He realized that he had been hemmed in, and halted.

“One positioned, aiming using an projectile,” he recalls. “Somehow he became aware that I was present and I began to escape.”

He ended up face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. Over many years, Tomas—who lives in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—served as practically a neighbor to these wandering people, who avoid contact with foreigners.

An updated study issued by a rights organization states remain a minimum of 196 termed “remote communities” remaining worldwide. The group is considered to be the biggest. It states 50% of these groups might be wiped out in the next decade if governments neglect to implement more measures to safeguard them.

The report asserts the greatest dangers come from deforestation, digging or drilling for oil. Uncontacted groups are highly at risk to common sickness—as such, it notes a risk is presented by contact with evangelical missionaries and social media influencers in pursuit of engagement.

In recent times, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by inhabitants.

The village is a fishermen's community of several clans, sitting elevated on the shores of the Tauhamanu River in the center of the Peruvian rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the nearest village by watercraft.

The territory is not classified as a protected reserve for remote communities, and timber firms operate here.

Tomas reports that, sometimes, the racket of industrial tools can be noticed day and night, and the community are seeing their jungle disturbed and ruined.

Among the locals, inhabitants say they are conflicted. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess profound admiration for their “relatives” dwelling in the jungle and desire to protect them.

“Permit them to live in their own way, we can't modify their traditions. For this reason we preserve our space,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the community's way of life, the risk of conflict and the possibility that deforestation crews might introduce the community to illnesses they have no immunity to.

While we were in the village, the tribe made their presence felt again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a young mother with a young child, was in the jungle picking produce when she heard them.

“There were shouting, cries from people, a large number of them. Like it was a whole group yelling,” she told us.

That was the first time she had come across the group and she escaped. Subsequently, her mind was persistently pounding from fear.

“Since operate deforestation crews and firms destroying the forest they are escaping, maybe out of fear and they end up in proximity to us,” she explained. “We are uncertain what their response may be with us. That's what scares me.”

In 2022, two loggers were assaulted by the Mashco Piro while fishing. A single person was struck by an bow to the stomach. He recovered, but the second individual was discovered deceased after several days with multiple puncture marks in his frame.

The administration maintains a approach of non-contact with remote tribes, making it forbidden to initiate interactions with them.

The strategy began in a nearby nation after decades of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who saw that initial interaction with remote tribes could lead to entire groups being decimated by illness, poverty and malnutrition.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau community in Peru came into contact with the broader society, a significant portion of their community died within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people experienced the same fate.

“Secluded communities are extremely at risk—from a disease perspective, any interaction could introduce illnesses, and even the basic infections could decimate them,” explains an advocate from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or intrusion can be highly damaging to their life and well-being as a community.”

For those living nearby of {