Isolated Indians’ land protected

The Peruvian government has created a new reserve in the Amazon rainforest, protecting the lands of the isolated Isconahua Indians and several other indigenous tribes.

The reserve, named Zona Reservada Sierra del Divisor, is on the border with the Brazilian state of Acre. Two reserves on the Brazilian side of the border, also home to several uncontacted Indian groups, are already protected by the Brazilian government and a third is due to be demarcated this year.

Both governments are discussing how to tackle the problem of illegal logging in the area. Earlier this month, Brazilian police arrested eight Peruvian loggers with 134 cubic metres of mahogany in the Brazilian side of the park. Local indigenous organisations in both countries fear that isolated Indians in the region are being killed by loggers, and that many are being forced to flee from their homes as their forest is cut down.