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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a tiny open space deep in the Peruvian jungle when he detected movements approaching through the lush woodland.

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

“One person positioned, directing with an arrow,” he recalls. “Unexpectedly he noticed of my presence and I began to flee.”

He had come face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. Over many years, Tomas—residing in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—was almost a local to these wandering people, who shun engagement with foreigners.

A recent report issued by a advocacy organisation states there are no fewer than 196 of what it calls “remote communities” remaining in the world. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the most numerous. The study says a significant portion of these communities could be eliminated over the coming ten years should administrations fail to take further actions to defend them.

It argues the most significant risks are from deforestation, digging or drilling for oil. Uncontacted groups are exceptionally at risk to ordinary sickness—consequently, it notes a threat is caused by interaction with evangelical missionaries and digital content creators in pursuit of engagement.

Recently, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from residents.

This settlement is a fishing hamlet of seven or eight families, sitting high on the shores of the local river deep within the of Peru Amazon, a ten-hour journey from the nearest settlement by canoe.

The territory is not classified as a safeguarded zone for isolated tribes, and timber firms operate here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the racket of heavy equipment can be heard continuously, and the tribe members are witnessing their forest damaged and devastated.

Within the village, people say they are divided. They dread the tribal weapons but they also have strong admiration for their “relatives” who live in the jungle and wish to defend them.

“Allow them to live as they live, we can't modify their traditions. For this reason we maintain our space,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are worried about the harm to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of aggression and the chance that deforestation crews might introduce the Mashco Piro to sicknesses they have no resistance to.

During a visit in the settlement, the group made their presence felt again. Letitia, a young mother with a two-year-old daughter, was in the forest picking fruit when she heard them.

“We heard calls, shouts from others, many of them. Like there was a large gathering shouting,” she informed us.

That was the first instance she had come across the Mashco Piro and she escaped. After sixty minutes, her thoughts was still pounding from terror.

“As operate deforestation crews and operations clearing the jungle they are escaping, maybe out of fear and they arrive near us,” she said. “It is unclear how they will behave towards us. This is what terrifies me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were assaulted by the Mashco Piro while angling. One man was hit by an arrow to the gut. He survived, but the second individual was found deceased subsequently with several arrow wounds in his frame.

The Peruvian government follows a strategy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, establishing it as prohibited to commence contact with them.

The policy began in Brazil after decades of advocacy by community representatives, who saw that first interaction with isolated people lead to whole populations being eliminated by disease, destitution and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau community in the country came into contact with the outside world, half of their people died within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua tribe experienced the same fate.

“Remote tribes are highly at risk—in terms of health, any interaction may spread illnesses, and including the most common illnesses could decimate them,” explains Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or intrusion may be extremely detrimental to their life and health as a group.”

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