Rare pictures released of uncontacted Amazon rainforest tribe in Peru emerging near logging site

Dozens of uncontacted people deep in the Peruvian Amazon have been captured on camera just several miles from a number of logging areas, a human rights group said, and they are believed to be from the largest uncontacted tribe in the world.

In the images released by Survival International, a London-based human rights organization founded in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of Indigenous, tribal and uncontacted peoples, more than 50 Mashco Piro people can be seen appearing near the Yine village of Monte Salvado, in southeast Peru.

“In a separate incident, another group, of 17, appeared near the neighboring village of Puerto Nuevo,” officials said. “The Yine, who are not uncontacted, speak a language related to Mashco Piro, and have previously reported that the Mashco Piro angrily denounced the presence of loggers on their land.”

Campaigners from Survival International say this is a graphic example of the “urgent need to revoke all the logging licenses in the area, and recognize that the territory belongs to the Mashco Piro people, which Survival believes is the largest uncontacted tribe in the world.”

Several logging companies hold timber concessions -- a territory administered outside of government parameters used in resource extraction -- inside the Peruvian territory that belongs to the Mashco Piro people, and the nearest logging area is just a few miles from where the Mashco Piro were filmed.

“One company, Canales Tahuamanu, that operates inside the Mashco Piro territory has built more than 200km of roads for its logging trucks to extract timber,” Survival International says. “It is certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) for its supposedly sustainable and ethical operations there, despite the Peruvian government acknowledging eight years ago that it is cutting down trees within Mashco Piro territory.”

“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,” said Alfredo Vargas Pio, President of local Indigenous organization FENAMAD said in a statement regarding the new images. “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.”

Survival International has since called on the FSC to withdraw its certification of the logging company’s operations but there is no indication on whether the company has any plans to do so.

“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,” said Survival International Director Caroline Pearce. “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. The FSC must cancel its certification of Canales Tahuamanu immediately – failure to do so will make a mockery of the entire certification system.”

While the Mashco Piro population is unclear, they are believed to be the largest uncontacted tribe on Earth with an estimated 750 people, making their home deep within the rainforests of southeast Peru.