Newly released images have highlighted a critical issue: the uncontacted Mashco Piro tribe in the Peruvian Amazon is living dangerously close to areas being targeted by logging companies. This footage, shared by Survival International and local Indigenous groups, reveals the urgent need to stop logging activities and officially recognize the tribe’s land rights.
The Mashco Piro are a nomadic hunter-gatherer group with about 750 members. They have a history of extreme hardship, particularly during the late 19th century when colonial rubber barons subjected them to severe mistreatment. Many were enslaved, while others faced brutal violence, including hunting, beatings, and other abuses. Despite these horrors, the Mashco Piro have managed to keep their traditional way of life. However, their survival is now threatened by ongoing deforestation and logging.
The new footage shows Mashco Piro people living very close to logging areas. One clip shows 17 individuals near Puerto Nuevo, while another shows over 50 near Monte Salvado. Monte Salvado is home to the Yine, an Indigenous group that is in contact with the outside world and speaks a language related to the Mashco Piro’s. The Yine have reported that the Mashco Piro are strongly opposed to the logging happening on their land.
“These incredible images show that very large numbers of uncontacted Mashco Piro people are living just a few miles from where loggers are poised to start operations. Indeed one logging company, Canales Tahuamanu, is already at work inside Mashco Piro territory, which the Mashco Piro have made clear they oppose,” Caroline Pearce, Survival International Director, said in a statement.
“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,” she noted.
Pearce has called attention to the urgent nature of this situation. She stated that the images highlight an impending humanitarian crisis and demanded that logging companies be removed from Mashco Piro territory immediately. Pearce also urged the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to revoke its certification from Canales Tahuamanu, one of the logging companies operating there. She warned that failing to take action would damage the credibility of the FSC’s efforts to ensure responsible forest management.
Alfredo Vargas Pio, President of the local Indigenous group FENAMAD, supported Pearce’s call for action. He warned that logging could introduce diseases that might wipe out the Mashco Piro and could lead to violent clashes. Vargas Pio emphasized the need for legal protection of the Mashco Piro’s land to prevent further harm and encroachment. Immediate action is needed to protect the tribe’s well-being and preserve their land from the destructive effects of logging.
“The FSC must cancel its certification of Canales Tahuamanu immediately – failure to do so will make a mockery of the entire certification system,” added Pearce.
“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,” added Alfredo Vargas Pio.