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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a small clearing within in the of Peru Amazon when he noticed footsteps approaching through the dense jungle.

He realized he was encircled, and stood still.

“A single individual positioned, pointing using an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “Somehow he detected I was here and I began to flee.”

He had come confronting the Mashco Piro tribe. For a long time, Tomas—residing in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbour to these nomadic tribe, who avoid interaction with strangers.

An updated document from a advocacy organization states exist a minimum of 196 of what it calls “remote communities” remaining in the world. This tribe is thought to be the largest. It states a significant portion of these tribes may be eliminated in the next decade unless authorities neglect to implement more actions to defend them.

It claims the greatest risks come from timber harvesting, digging or exploration for oil. Uncontacted groups are highly susceptible to ordinary sickness—consequently, the report notes a danger is presented by exposure with proselytizers and digital content creators in pursuit of clicks.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been coming to Nueva Oceania more and more, based on accounts from residents.

The village is a fishermen's hamlet of a handful of families, located high on the shores of the Tauhamanu River deep within the Peruvian jungle, half a day from the most accessible town by canoe.

The territory is not classified as a protected zone for uncontacted groups, and deforestation operations function here.

Tomas reports that, sometimes, the sound of industrial tools can be noticed day and night, and the tribe members are observing their forest disturbed and devastated.

Within the village, residents report they are conflicted. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess deep regard for their “relatives” dwelling in the jungle and want to safeguard them.

“Allow them to live according to their traditions, we are unable to alter their way of life. For this reason we maintain our space,” explains Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the harm to the community's way of life, the threat of violence and the possibility that deforestation crews might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no resistance to.

While we were in the settlement, the group appeared again. A young mother, a young mother with a young girl, was in the forest picking produce when she noticed them.

“We heard cries, cries from individuals, numerous of them. As if there was a crowd calling out,” she shared with us.

That was the first time she had encountered the group and she escaped. An hour later, her head was still pounding from anxiety.

“Since operate deforestation crews and operations destroying the woodland they're running away, possibly due to terror and they arrive close to us,” she said. “It is unclear how they will behave towards us. This is what terrifies me.”

Two years ago, two loggers were assaulted by the tribe while fishing. One was wounded by an arrow to the stomach. He recovered, but the other person was found lifeless days later with multiple puncture marks in his physique.

Authorities in Peru maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with remote tribes, establishing it as forbidden to start interactions with them.

The strategy was first adopted in a nearby nation following many years of campaigning by tribal advocacy organizations, who noted that first contact with remote tribes resulted to entire communities being decimated by disease, hardship and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in the country came into contact with the world outside, 50% of their population succumbed within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua community suffered the same fate.

“Secluded communities are extremely susceptible—in terms of health, any contact could transmit sicknesses, and even the most common illnesses may eliminate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “From a societal perspective, any interaction or intrusion may be very harmful to their way of life and health as a community.”

For local residents of {