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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a small clearing within in the Peruvian rainforest when he noticed movements coming closer through the thick jungle.

He became aware that he stood encircled, and froze.

“One person positioned, pointing with an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “And somehow he became aware I was here and I started to flee.”

He found himself face to face the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—dwelling in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—was practically a neighbour to these wandering people, who reject engagement with strangers.

A recent report by a rights organization states there are no fewer than 196 termed “remote communities” in existence in the world. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the largest. The report states 50% of these communities might be eliminated over the coming ten years if governments neglect to implement more actions to defend them.

The report asserts the biggest risks stem from deforestation, mining or operations for crude. Remote communities are extremely at risk to basic sickness—consequently, the study says a danger is caused by exposure with evangelical missionaries and online personalities seeking engagement.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been venturing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from residents.

The village is a fishermen's village of several households, perched high on the edges of the local river deep within the of Peru rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the nearest village by watercraft.

This region is not recognised as a preserved reserve for isolated tribes, and logging companies function here.

Tomas says that, sometimes, the sound of industrial tools can be detected around the clock, and the community are observing their forest disrupted and devastated.

In Nueva Oceania, residents state they are conflicted. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they hold profound admiration for their “brothers” residing in the woodland and want to defend them.

“Permit them to live as they live, we can't modify their traditions. This is why we preserve our separation,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are worried about the harm to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of violence and the likelihood that timber workers might introduce the tribe to diseases they have no resistance to.

While we were in the settlement, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a toddler child, was in the forest picking food when she detected them.

“We heard calls, cries from individuals, numerous of them. Like there were a large gathering calling out,” she shared with us.

This marked the first instance she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she ran. Subsequently, her mind was persistently racing from anxiety.

“As there are deforestation crews and firms clearing the woodland they are fleeing, maybe because of dread and they arrive near us,” she said. “We are uncertain how they might react to us. This is what terrifies me.”

In 2022, two individuals were confronted by the Mashco Piro while fishing. One was hit by an arrow to the stomach. He lived, but the other person was discovered deceased days later with multiple arrow wounds in his body.

The administration maintains a policy of non-contact with remote tribes, establishing it as forbidden to start interactions with them.

The strategy was first adopted in Brazil subsequent to prolonged of campaigning by tribal advocacy organizations, who observed that first exposure with isolated people could lead to entire groups being wiped out by sickness, hardship and malnutrition.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau people in the country made initial contact with the broader society, a significant portion of their population succumbed within a matter of years. A decade later, the Muruhanua community suffered the similar destiny.

“Secluded communities are very vulnerable—epidemiologically, any exposure may spread sicknesses, and including the simplest ones may wipe them out,” explains an advocate from a local advocacy organization. “In cultural terms, any interaction or interference may be very harmful to their existence and well-being as a society.”

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