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Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a small clearing within in the of Peru rainforest when he heard sounds coming closer through the thick woodland.

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

“One stood, pointing with an projectile,” he remembers. “Unexpectedly he noticed of my presence and I commenced to run.”

He ended up confronting members of the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—residing in the modest settlement of Nueva Oceania—served as practically a neighbor to these itinerant tribe, who shun interaction with foreigners.

A recent report by a human rights group states remain a minimum of 196 termed “uncontacted groups” remaining in the world. The group is thought to be the most numerous. The report says half of these communities might be decimated within ten years if governments don't do additional to protect them.

It argues the most significant risks are from timber harvesting, mining or drilling for crude. Remote communities are exceptionally at risk to common illness—consequently, the report states a risk is posed by interaction with religious missionaries and online personalities looking for attention.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, according to locals.

Nueva Oceania is a fishing community of seven or eight clans, perched high on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the center of the of Peru jungle, half a day from the most accessible settlement by boat.

The territory is not recognised as a preserved area for uncontacted groups, and timber firms operate here.

According to Tomas that, at times, the sound of heavy equipment can be detected around the clock, and the Mashco Piro people are witnessing their forest damaged and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants report they are divided. They dread the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess strong regard for their “kin” dwelling in the woodland and wish to protect them.

“Let them live in their own way, we must not modify their culture. This is why we maintain our separation,” states Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the destruction to the tribe's survival, the risk of aggression and the possibility that deforestation crews might expose the community to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

At the time in the village, the Mashco Piro appeared again. A young mother, a resident with a two-year-old girl, was in the forest gathering food when she noticed them.

“We detected calls, shouts from individuals, a large number of them. As though it was a crowd calling out,” she shared with us.

That was the initial occasion she had encountered the tribe and she fled. An hour later, her mind was continually racing from terror.

“As there are deforestation crews and operations destroying the jungle they're running away, perhaps because of dread and they arrive in proximity to us,” she explained. “We are uncertain what their response may be with us. That is the thing that frightens me.”

Recently, two loggers were attacked by the Mashco Piro while fishing. One was hit by an projectile to the gut. He recovered, but the second individual was located deceased days later with nine injuries in his physique.

The administration maintains a policy of no engagement with isolated people, making it forbidden to initiate contact with them.

This approach began in a nearby nation following many years of campaigning by indigenous rights groups, who noted that first exposure with secluded communities lead to whole populations being eliminated by disease, hardship and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau community in Peru came into contact with the outside world, 50% of their community died within a few years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua tribe experienced the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly susceptible—in terms of health, any interaction could spread sicknesses, and even the basic infections could eliminate them,” says an advocate from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any contact or interference can be extremely detrimental to their life and well-being as a society.”

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