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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a tiny open space deep in the of Peru Amazon when he detected movements drawing near through the lush jungle.

It dawned on him he was surrounded, and stood still.

“One person positioned, aiming with an arrow,” he remembers. “Unexpectedly he noticed I was here and I commenced to escape.”

He had come face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For decades, Tomas—who lives in the modest village of Nueva Oceania—had been almost a neighbour to these nomadic tribe, who reject interaction with foreigners.

A new report issued by a advocacy organisation claims exist at least 196 described as “uncontacted groups” remaining in the world. The group is thought to be the most numerous. The report claims half of these communities may be wiped out within ten years should administrations neglect to implement more measures to safeguard them.

The report asserts the greatest dangers are from timber harvesting, mining or operations for oil. Remote communities are exceptionally at risk to ordinary disease—consequently, the report states a danger is caused by contact with religious missionaries and social media influencers in pursuit of clicks.

Lately, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania more and more, based on accounts from inhabitants.

This settlement is a fishermen's village of a handful of families, located high on the banks of the local river in the center of the of Peru rainforest, 10 hours from the closest town by canoe.

The territory is not classified as a protected area for remote communities, and timber firms operate here.

Tomas says that, sometimes, the sound of logging machinery can be detected around the clock, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their forest disrupted and destroyed.

Among the locals, residents say they are torn. They fear the projectiles but they also possess deep admiration for their “brothers” dwelling in the forest and desire to defend them.

“Let them live in their own way, we can't alter their traditions. This is why we keep our distance,” states Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the threat of aggression and the chance that deforestation crews might introduce the Mashco Piro to illnesses they have no resistance to.

During a visit in the village, the group made their presence felt again. Letitia, a woman with a two-year-old girl, was in the woodland picking produce when she heard them.

“We heard cries, shouts from individuals, a large number of them. Like there were a crowd yelling,” she told us.

That was the initial occasion she had met the Mashco Piro and she escaped. Subsequently, her mind was still throbbing from terror.

“As operate deforestation crews and operations clearing the woodland they're running away, possibly due to terror and they arrive in proximity to us,” she said. “We are uncertain how they might react with us. That's what scares me.”

Recently, two individuals were confronted by the Mashco Piro while catching fish. One was wounded by an projectile to the stomach. He survived, but the other man was located dead days later with nine puncture marks in his physique.

The administration has a approach of non-contact with remote tribes, rendering it illegal to start interactions with them.

This approach originated in the neighboring country following many years of advocacy by community representatives, who saw that early interaction with isolated people resulted to entire communities being wiped out by illness, poverty and starvation.

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

“Remote tribes are extremely at risk—from a disease perspective, any exposure could transmit diseases, and including the most common illnesses might decimate them,” states Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or disruption could be highly damaging to their existence and health as a group.”

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