International ad campaign launched to protect uncontacted tribe
April 12, 2010
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Survival has launched an international ad campaign calling for the protection of one of the last uncontacted tribes in South America.
One ad shows the destruction of forest belonging to Paraguay’s Ayoreo-Totobiegosode tribe, which is being bulldozed to make way for cattle ranching. The ad states that the tribe will ‘be forced to flee, running for their lives’ and urges supporters to send a letter to Paraguay’s President Lugo.
A separate ad is being published in six languages and has already appeared in Red Bulletin and Condé Nast Traveller. It also focuses on the destruction of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians’ ancestral land, and urges supporters to ‘Help Restore Logic’.
Download the first ad
The Ayoreo are the only uncontacted tribe in South America living outside the Amazon rainforest. In violation of Paraguay’s constitution and international law, private companies such as the Brazilian firm Yaguarete Porá S.A. have cleared thousands of hectares of the Ayoreo’s land for cattle ranching, forcing the tribe to flee their homes.
In 2005 a UNESCO biosphere reserve was created in the area. One of its aims was ‘the recovery, legalization and return of the land to these native people’, and in 2007 Survival presented a petition with 57,000 signatures to Paraguay’s government in support of the Ayoreo. Despite this, satellite pictures have revealed that the Ayoreo’s land continues to be cleared.
Stephen Corry, Director of Survival, said, ‘I urge President Lugo to fulfill his promise to protect Paraguay’s Indigenous people. He is the only one who can restore logic by stopping the bulldozing of the Ayoreo’s forest and so save the lives of Paraguay’s most vulnerable citizens.’
Survival’s Paraguay expert has met some of the relatives of the uncontacted Totobiegosode, and is available for interview.
Support Survival’s campaign for the Ayoreo by publishing these ads. Contact:
Miriam Ross
T (44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (44) (0)7504543367
E [email protected]
W https://www.survivalinternational.org/
Survival International
6 Charterhouse Buildings
London EC1M 7ET
United Kingdom
In the US:
Christina Chauvenet (before 12 pm EST)
T: (+1) 202 525 6972
E: [email protected]
Tess Thackara (after 12 pm EST)
T: (+1) 510 981 1790
E: [email protected]
