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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a tiny clearing within in the of Peru jungle when he detected sounds drawing near through the dense jungle.

He realized he was surrounded, and stood still.

“One positioned, pointing using an arrow,” he states. “Unexpectedly he detected of my presence and I commenced to escape.”

He had come encountering the Mashco Piro tribe. For decades, Tomas—residing in the tiny settlement of Nueva Oceania—was practically a neighbor to these nomadic people, who shun engagement with strangers.

A new report from a human rights group claims there are a minimum of 196 termed “remote communities” remaining in the world. This tribe is thought to be the most numerous. The study says a significant portion of these groups could be eliminated over the coming ten years if governments don't do more actions to defend them.

The report asserts the biggest threats come from logging, digging or exploration for oil. Remote communities are extremely at risk to basic illness—consequently, the study states a danger is presented by contact with religious missionaries and online personalities looking for attention.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania more and more, according to residents.

This settlement is a fishing community of seven or eight clans, located atop on the banks of the local river in the center of the of Peru rainforest, 10 hours from the most accessible village by watercraft.

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

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the noise of heavy equipment can be heard day and night, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their jungle disturbed and devastated.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants report they are torn. They fear the projectiles but they also have profound respect for their “relatives” who live in the woodland and want to safeguard them.

“Permit them to live according to their traditions, we are unable to modify their culture. For this reason we preserve our distance,” explains Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the danger of violence and the possibility that loggers might expose the community to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

While we were in the community, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a toddler daughter, was in the forest collecting food when she detected them.

“We heard shouting, cries from people, many of them. As if it was a large gathering shouting,” she shared with us.

This marked the first time she had encountered the group and she fled. An hour later, her head was continually pounding from fear.

“As exist loggers and operations cutting down the woodland they're running away, possibly out of fear and they end up near us,” she said. “We don't know what their response may be with us. That's what frightens me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were attacked by the tribe while angling. A single person was hit by an arrow to the abdomen. He recovered, but the other person was discovered dead subsequently with nine arrow wounds in his physique.

The administration follows a approach of no engagement with isolated people, making it forbidden to start contact with them.

This approach was first adopted in the neighboring country following many years of lobbying by indigenous rights groups, who noted that initial interaction with isolated people lead to whole populations being decimated by sickness, poverty and malnutrition.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau people in the country first encountered with the world outside, 50% of their population perished within a matter of years. A decade later, the Muruhanua community experienced the same fate.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are very at risk—from a disease perspective, any exposure may spread sicknesses, and even the simplest ones might wipe them out,” states an advocate from a tribal support group. “Culturally too, any interaction or disruption may be extremely detrimental to their existence and survival as a group.”

For local residents of {