A reclusive tribe of hunter-gatherers in Peru has reportedly resorted to using bows and arrows to attack loggers attempting to invade their territory.
The Mashco Piro tribe were recently photographed foraging for food on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon, amid fears that their rainforest home is being increasingly cleared by loggers.
Rare video shows the group standing near the Las Piedras River in small groups, some jogging to pick up large spears resting on the ground. Others were seen talking, gesturing to each other and helping carry objects across the river.
Since their sudden appearance, experts fear that residents of Madre de Dio are being forced to leave their homes in the region and may retaliate against illegal operators, a prediction that appears to have come true.
FENAMAD, a regional indigenous organization representing 39 communities in the Cusco and Madre de Dios regions, confirmed that a logger was injured after a group illegally logged trees in the tribe’s territory on July 27.
The Mashco Piro tribe reportedly injured a logger using a bow and arrow after a group illegally logged on the tribe’s territory.
“It is allegedly illegal because the area where the incident occurred is a forestry concession that belonged to Wood Tropical Forest until November 2022 and we are not aware of a concession that has requested or granted permit rights in the same area,” said a FENAMAD representative, speaking anonymously for personal safety reasons.
The organization warns that the lack of protection measures by the Peruvian government and the increase in illegal activity in the Mashco Piro territory could produce “devastating consequences,” such as the transmission of diseases and increased violence.
Survival International, a tribal peoples’ rights group that closely follows the plight of the Mashco Piro, has also been lobbying the government to take action to control the increasingly dangerous situation.
“This is a permanent emergency. For the past month we have been seeing the Mascho Piro every two weeks in different places and in all of them they are surrounded by loggers,” explained Teresa Mayo, a researcher with Survival International. CBS News.
The ethnic group was recently photographed foraging for food on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon, amid fears that their rainforest home is being increasingly cleared by loggers.
The images showed the group standing near the Las Piedras River in small groups, some jogging to pick up large spears that were lying on the ground.
The Mashco Piro, who inhabit an area located between two nature reserves in Madre de Dios, are rarely seen and do not communicate much with outsiders.
Several logging companies have logging concessions within the territory inhabited by the Mashco Piro.
One such company, Canales Tahuamanu, has built more than 200 kilometres (120 miles) of roads for its logging trucks to extract timber, according to Survival International.
The company is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, according to which it has 53,000 hectares (130,000 acres) of forests in Madre de Dios to extract cedar and mahogany.
The Mashco Piro, who live in an area located between two nature reserves in Madre de Dios, have generally appeared little and do not communicate much with anyone.
In 2022, members of the Mashco Piro tribe shot two Catahua workers with bows and arrows while they were fishing in the Tahuamanu River, killing one.
In 2022, members of the Mashco Piro tribe Shooting Two Catahua workers with bows and arrows while fishing in the Tahuamanu River, killing one.
As a result, Survival International is also calling on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to withdraw its certifications from Catahua’s operations and petition to ask for support to help protect uncontacted tribes.
Alfredo Vargas Pio, president of the local indigenous organisation, said: ‘The logging workers could bring new diseases that would wipe out the Mashco Piro and there is also the risk of violence from both sides, so it is very important that the territorial rights of the Mashco Piro are recognised and protected by law.
‘This is a humanitarian disaster in the making: it is absolutely vital to expel the loggers and finally properly protect the Mashco Piro territory.
‘FSC must cancel its certification of Canales Tahuamanu immediately; failure to do so would make a mockery of the entire certification system.’
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