Protection for "lost" tribes
How many tribes are still to be found?
This question has tantalised explorers for centuries. This level of isolation and deep rooted connection to the past is a very romantic and, for some, unimaginable notion. But discovery brings with it huge problems for the people so perhaps there are more important questions to answer: how best to protect their ancestral forests and should we go looking for them in the first place?
Images from near the Brazil/Peru border surfaced this week that appear to show an unknown group of native Amzonians covered in body paint and firing arrows at the aeroplane. Clearly this tribe didn’t want their isolation shattered and who can blame them. Discovery can mean conflict, exploitation, disease and, ultimately, extinction.
The Brazilian government say they took the photos to prove that isolated tribes live in the region, on both sides of the border.