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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a small glade within in the of Peru Amazon when he noticed footsteps approaching through the lush jungle.

He realized that he had been surrounded, and stood still.

“One stood, directing using an arrow,” he remembers. “Somehow he noticed of my presence and I began to run.”

He had come confronting members of the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—dwelling in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—had been virtually a local to these wandering tribe, who reject contact with strangers.

A recent report from a advocacy group claims there are no fewer than 196 termed “remote communities” in existence worldwide. This tribe is thought to be the biggest. The report claims a significant portion of these tribes might be wiped out over the coming ten years should administrations don't do more measures to safeguard them.

The report asserts the biggest risks come from deforestation, digging or exploration for oil. Remote communities are highly susceptible to basic illness—therefore, it states a risk is posed by exposure with proselytizers and social media influencers in pursuit of clicks.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from residents.

The village is a fishermen's community of a handful of households, sitting high on the shores of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the Peruvian rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the closest village by canoe.

The territory is not designated as a protected zone for uncontacted groups, and timber firms function here.

Tomas says that, at times, the noise of heavy equipment can be detected continuously, and the community are witnessing their jungle disturbed and destroyed.

Among the locals, people report they are conflicted. They fear the tribal weapons but they also possess profound respect for their “relatives” dwelling in the woodland and wish to protect them.

“Permit them to live in their own way, we can't alter their traditions. That's why we preserve our space,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the threat of violence and the chance that loggers might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

While we were in the community, the tribe appeared again. Letitia, a woman with a two-year-old girl, was in the woodland picking fruit when she heard them.

“We heard cries, cries from individuals, numerous of them. As if it was a large gathering calling out,” she told us.

That was the first instance she had encountered the group and she fled. An hour later, her head was continually pounding from fear.

“Since there are deforestation crews and operations cutting down the woodland they are escaping, maybe due to terror and they end up near us,” she stated. “It is unclear how they will behave towards us. This is what scares me.”

In 2022, two individuals were attacked by the Mashco Piro while angling. One was hit by an projectile to the abdomen. He recovered, but the other person was discovered lifeless days later with several arrow wounds in his physique.

The Peruvian government maintains a policy of no engagement with secluded communities, rendering it forbidden to commence interactions with them.

The policy began in a nearby nation following many years of lobbying by community representatives, who observed that first exposure with secluded communities lead to entire groups being wiped out by sickness, poverty and malnutrition.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau people in the country came into contact with the world outside, a significant portion of their people succumbed within a few years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua community experienced the same fate.

“Remote tribes are highly susceptible—from a disease perspective, any exposure may introduce illnesses, and even the basic infections could eliminate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or intrusion can be very harmful to their life and survival as a community.”

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