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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny glade within in the Peruvian rainforest when he noticed sounds coming closer through the lush woodland.

It dawned on him he was surrounded, and froze.

“One was standing, aiming using an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “And somehow he detected of my presence and I started to run.”

He had come encountering members of the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—residing in the tiny settlement of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbor to these nomadic individuals, who reject interaction with outsiders.

An updated document by a rights group states there are at least 196 of what it calls “remote communities” in existence worldwide. The Mashco Piro is thought to be the biggest. It claims a significant portion of these groups may be eliminated within ten years should administrations neglect to implement more measures to safeguard them.

It claims the greatest risks stem from timber harvesting, digging or drilling for petroleum. Remote communities are highly vulnerable to common sickness—consequently, the report notes a danger is presented by contact with proselytizers and digital content creators looking for engagement.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been appearing to Nueva Oceania more and more, as reported by locals.

This settlement is a angling village of seven or eight families, sitting high on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the center of the of Peru jungle, half a day from the most accessible settlement by watercraft.

The territory is not designated as a preserved area for remote communities, and logging companies operate here.

According to Tomas that, on occasion, the noise of heavy equipment can be heard day and night, and the community are witnessing their forest damaged and devastated.

Within the village, residents say they are conflicted. They fear the tribal weapons but they hold deep regard for their “brothers” who live in the forest and desire to safeguard them.

“Permit them to live as they live, we are unable to change their culture. For this reason we preserve our separation,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are worried about the destruction to the community's way of life, the risk of aggression and the chance that loggers might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the settlement, the tribe made themselves known again. Letitia, a young mother with a young daughter, was in the forest collecting fruit when she heard them.

“We heard cries, sounds from individuals, many of them. As though there was a whole group calling out,” she told us.

It was the initial occasion she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she escaped. An hour later, her head was persistently racing from anxiety.

“As there are loggers and operations cutting down the forest they are escaping, perhaps out of fear and they end up close to us,” she explained. “It is unclear how they will behave to us. That is the thing that terrifies me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were attacked by the group while catching fish. A single person was hit by an bow to the stomach. He recovered, but the second individual was found lifeless days later with several injuries in his body.

The administration follows a policy of no engagement with secluded communities, rendering it prohibited to initiate encounters with them.

This approach began in the neighboring country subsequent to prolonged of advocacy by community representatives, who noted that initial contact with isolated people could lead to entire communities being eliminated by sickness, hardship and hunger.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau community in Peru first encountered with the outside world, half of their people perished within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua community experienced the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly at risk—epidemiologically, any interaction may transmit diseases, and including the simplest ones could decimate them,” states an advocate from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or intrusion could be highly damaging to their life and survival as a group.”

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