Mascho Piro, an uncontacted Amazonian ethnic tribal group, attacked loggers with bows and arrows who were suspected of encroaching on their territory, according to an indigenous organization, The Associated Press (AP) reported Monday.
FENAMAD, a regional indigenous organization, said they believe illegal logging was the root of a conflict the entity said has left one logger injured following a July 27 attack by the tribe, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Isolated Amazon Tribe Members’ Porn And Social Media Habits Spark Concern After They Connect To Internet: REPORT)
Reclusive tribe attacks loggers suspected of encroaching on their land in Peru’s Amazon https://t.co/9xKvVOXBcN
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 6, 2024
Some experts cited weeks-old photos of the tribe searching for sustenance on a beach as evidence that the logging concessions were too “dangerously close” to their territory, according to the AP.
“It is presumably 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 enabling rights in the same area,” a FENAMAD representative told the AP. FENAMAD has demanded that the Peruvian government increase its protection measures in the area and rein in increased and illegal economic operations, the outlet noted.
The organization pointed out that such activities may create “devastating consequences” for the locals, citing the possibility of disease transmission and violence, the AP reported.
Survival International, a non-governmental organization dedicated toward indigenous issues, has lobbied Peru to increase its policing presence in these remote areas of the Amazon, the outlet reported. “This is a permanent emergency. For the last month we have been seeing the Mascho Piro every two weeks at different points, and in all of them they are surrounded by loggers,” Teresa Mayo, a Survival International researcher, told the AP during a phone call. “It’s truly a matter of life and death. And only the government can and has the duty to stop it.”