The Mashco Piro tribe is one of the largest groups of people who have not had any form of contact with the modern world left in existence.
They live in the rainforests of Peru, and it is forbidden (as well as potentially dangerous) to contact them by law.
Unfortunately, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has recently approved an area just miles from their home for logging. Logging companies have already built over 124 miles of roads in the area, and are actively cutting down thousands of trees.
While there area that this logging is being performed on does not overlap with the known lands of the Mashco Piro tribe, it is close enough to cause disturbances.
There has even been video of members of the tribe walking the beaches not far from the logging operations.
As anyone who has heard logging taking place, it is quite loud, so these people have very likely heard the heavy machinery in action.
Alfredo Vargas Pio, the president of Local Indigenous Organization FENAMAD said in a statement:
“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.”
It is estimated that there are only about 750 Mashco Piro living today, and helping to keep them safe is an important responsibility for both the government of Peru and companies that operate there.
In addition to keeping this tribe protected, the rainforest itself needs to be kept safe from these loggers. Caroline Pearce, the director of Survival International, commented:
“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 [Forest Stewardship Council] must cancel its certification of Canales Tahuamanu immediately – failure to do so will make a mockery of the entire certification system.”
Sadly, if history is any indication, it is likely that the profits of the company will come first, causing irreparable damage to the rainforest and this incredible tribe.
❗️ New & extraordinary footage released today show dozens of uncontacted Mashco Piro Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon, just a few miles from several logging companies.
Read the news: https://t.co/g9GrZlf3XB pic.twitter.com/fZv5rryzVp
— Survival International (@Survival) July 16, 2024
More must be done to protect the Mashco Piro people, and their rainforest lands.
Whether or not it will be is yet to be seen.
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