Peru - alert over loggers

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An increasing number of loggers are now encroaching on the land of uncontacted Indians in south-east Peru. FENAMAD, the regional Indian organisation, has issued an urgent alert about this. The land the loggers are entering, home to groups of the Yora, Amahuaca and Piro tribes, is one of three reserves for isolated Indians in south-east Peru, and is therefore meant to be protected by law. But no official action has yet been taken to remove the invaders.

Now is the beginning of the dry season, the time of year when it is easiest to enter the forest and when loggers usually go furthest into it. If the loggers continue into the forest unchecked, there is a strong risk of dangerous contact. They may provoke violent clashes with the Indians – who have suffered terribly in previous encounters with outsiders on their land – as well as bring in fatal diseases. The Peruvian government must act immediately to remove the loggers from Indian land, and so avert these threats.