Groups say Peru commission revisits 2016 study for Mashco Piro reserve expansion

Indigenous groups warn overlapping concessions could continue

Indigenous organizations and Survival International said a Peruvian government commission responsible for protecting isolated Indigenous peoples decided last week to revisit a 2016 government study rather than proceed with the proposed expansion of the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve. The study recommended expanding the reserve, which was established in 2002 for the Mashco Piro and other Indigenous peoples living in isolation. Indigenous organizations and Survival International said the move could expose more of the Mashco Piro’s territory to logging and raised concerns that concessions overlapping the proposal could continue operating in areas they consider essential to the Mashco Piro’s survival.

The Mashco Piro, one of the world’s largest uncontacted Indigenous groups, live deep in the forests of southeastern Peru and avoid contact with outsiders to preserve their traditional way of life. In recent years, they have increasingly been spotted near encroaching logging concessions.

In an Associated Press interview on Monday, Eusebio Rios Iviche, vice president of FENAMAD, said the decision reported by Indigenous organizations and Survival International threatened to reverse years of efforts to protect the Mashco Piro. He warned that the reported decision could expose the group to greater risks of encounters with outsiders and diseases to which they have little immunity.

Images released by Survival International in 2024 showed dozens of Mashco Piro people near logging concessions in Madre de Dios, a region bordering Brazil and Bolivia. That same year, violent encounters involving the Mashco Piro and loggers left at least two loggers dead. It remains unclear whether any Mashco Piro were killed or injured. Following the confrontations, the Forest Stewardship Council, an international organization that certifies responsibly managed forests, suspended certification for Maderera Canales Tahuamanu, a logging company operating in the area. The certification was withdrawn permanently in 2025. Survival International says logging has continued in the region despite the loss of certification.

Ramon Rivero, who headed the Peruvian government office responsible for protecting isolated Indigenous peoples in 2014, questioned the decision reported by Indigenous organizations and Survival International. He said authorities should complete the reserve’s expansion rather than revisit studies already approved. Rivero also said the government should consider compensation for logging companies whose concessions could be affected.

Caroline Pearce, executive director of Survival International, condemned the decision reported by Indigenous organizations and Survival International. Pearce said the move effectively put the Mashco Piro’s territory up for sale and prioritized commercial interests over Indigenous lives.

Rios Iviche urged the government to honor the 2016 agreement, expand the reserve and remove overlapping logging concessions. “The lives and survival of the Mashco Piro people must not come second to economic interests,” he said.

The dispute comes as Peru faces increasing scrutiny over its protection of Indigenous peoples living in isolation. In September, FENAMAD and the environmental legal organization EarthRights International brought a case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The groups accused Peru of failing to protect the Mashco Piro’s ancestral territory and their right to remain isolated.

Peru’s Ministry of Culture, which oversees protections for Indigenous peoples living in isolation, did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.