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| Yora woman, Peru.
© Shinai |
The Peruvian government has announced the creation of a State Reserve for
uncontacted tribes in the south-east of the country, who include the Yora. The
creation of the reserve is extremely good news for these vulnerable tribes;
Survival has been calling for it for some time, and launched a letter writing
campaign on the issue in September 2001. The subsequent stream of letters
received by the Peruvian authorities from concerned individuals around the world
certainly played a part in the decision.
The reserve, which is just to the north of the popular tourist destination of
Manu National Park, will measure 829,000 hectares in total. The government says
it is being created to protect those Indians living in voluntary isolation in
the area. No logging will be allowed inside the area – loggers have been one of
the most serious threats to the Indians in this area, destroying their forest
and bringing in infectious diseases to which the tribes have no immunity.
However, loggers are still operating inside the area declared a reserve, and
many more are just outside it. Survival is continuing to campaign alongside the
local indigenous organisation FENAMAD to have all the loggers removed from the
area. The recognition of the area as an Indian reserve gives added strength to
this campaign.
See How you can Help the Yora.
