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| One of the photos of logging camps in the Murunahua Reserve, released by Survival earlier this year. © C Fagan/Round River Conservation Studies |
Peru’s indigenous affairs department, INDEPA, has announced it will carry out an overflight of an uncontacted tribes’ reserve in the remote Amazon.
The announcement came after the publication of photos showing an illegal logging camp in the reserve, which were taken by the US-based organisation Round River Conservation Studies and released worldwide by Survival.
INDEPA said it would take action immediately after the publication of the photos, but until the recent announcement it was not clear what that action would consist of.
‘If we find evidence of loggers or others engaged in illegal activities, we will take the relevant course of action to stop it,’ said INDEPA’s president, Mayta Capac Alatrista.
The logging camp was spotted in the Murunahua Reserve, inhabited by at least one uncontacted tribe known as the Murunahua or Chitonahua. The reserve was created in 1997, but loggers have regularly entered it looking for valuable timber such as mahogany and cedar.
Some Murunahua have already been contacted – a catastrophic experience that led to an estimated 50% of them dying.
Brazil’s state oil company, Petrobras, has a contract to explore in the reserve. Survival has written to the company urging it not to work there.
Act now to help the Uncontacted Indians of Peru
Your efforts are crucial in defending the Uncontacted Tribes. Get involved in this urgent effort in the following ways.
- Writing a letter to the Peruvian government can make a real difference.
- Donate to the Uncontacted Indians campaign (and other Survival campaigns).
- Write to your MP or MEP (UK) or Senators and members of Congress (US).
- Write to your local Peruvian embassy
- If you want to get more involved, contact Survival…
