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Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a tiny glade within in the of Peru jungle when he noticed footsteps approaching through the thick jungle.

It dawned on him he was encircled, and halted.

“One person positioned, aiming with an arrow,” he remembers. “And somehow he detected I was here and I began to run.”

He ended up encountering the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the tiny settlement of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbour to these nomadic tribe, who avoid engagement with outsiders.

An updated study from a rights organisation states exist at least 196 termed “isolated tribes” remaining globally. This tribe is considered to be the most numerous. The study claims a significant portion of these tribes may be decimated over the coming ten years if governments neglect to implement more actions to defend them.

It claims the biggest threats stem from deforestation, digging or operations for crude. Remote communities are highly at risk to ordinary illness—therefore, the study states a danger is caused by exposure with evangelical missionaries and online personalities seeking engagement.

Recently, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania more and more, as reported by residents.

The village is a fishermen's village of seven or eight clans, sitting atop on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the center of the Peruvian Amazon, a ten-hour journey from the nearest town by watercraft.

This region is not recognised as a protected zone for uncontacted groups, and deforestation operations operate here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the sound of heavy equipment can be heard around the clock, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their woodland damaged and devastated.

Within the village, inhabitants report they are divided. They fear the projectiles but they hold deep regard for their “kin” dwelling in the woodland and desire to protect them.

“Allow them to live according to their traditions, we can't change their way of life. For this reason we maintain our space,” says Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the harm to the community's way of life, the threat of conflict and the chance that loggers might expose the tribe to illnesses they have no immunity to.

While we were in the community, the group made their presence felt again. A young mother, a resident with a young daughter, was in the woodland gathering fruit when she heard them.

“There were calls, sounds from people, numerous of them. Like there were a whole group calling out,” she informed us.

It was the first instance she had met the group and she ran. Subsequently, her mind was still racing from fear.

“Since operate timber workers and operations clearing the forest they are escaping, maybe out of fear and they arrive near us,” she explained. “We are uncertain how they will behave to us. That's what terrifies me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were attacked by the Mashco Piro while fishing. One man was struck by an arrow to the gut. He recovered, but the other person was discovered lifeless subsequently with several puncture marks in his frame.

The administration follows a strategy of non-contact with isolated people, rendering it forbidden to start contact with them.

This approach began in the neighboring country after decades of campaigning by tribal advocacy organizations, who noted that early exposure with remote tribes could lead to entire groups being decimated by disease, destitution and malnutrition.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in Peru made initial contact with the broader society, a significant portion of their people perished within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people faced the similar destiny.

“Secluded communities are extremely vulnerable—epidemiologically, any exposure could spread diseases, and even the simplest ones might decimate them,” explains an advocate from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “Culturally too, any interaction or interference can be very harmful to their way of life and survival as a community.”

For local residents of {