Peru to investigate illegal logging

One of the logging camps in the Murunahua Reserve, south-east Peru.
Photo: C. FaganPeru’s Indigenous Affairs Department, INDEPA, has announced it will investigate claims that loggers have invaded a reserve created for uncontacted Indians.

INDEPA’s announcement was made in response to UK-based Survival International's revealation about the loggers’ presence in the reserve, which received wide coverage in Peru. "We are going to check the photos that Survival has released," said INDEPA’s president, Mayta Cápac Alatrista, before adding that he would ask Survival for further information, coordinate with local authorities, and approach the Brazil government’s Indigenous Affairs Department, called FUNAI.

The photos were taken by conservationist Chris Fagan, from American NGO Round River Conservation Studies, during an overflight of the Murunahua Reserve earlier this year. Four camps were seen, three of them in the headwaters of the Envira River.

‘All four camps looked to be active. Illegal logging in protected areas is a serious threat to the indigenous people who live in the region. Not only are these ‘uncontacted’ people extremely vulnerable to diseases brought by outsiders, but there is a history of violent conflict between them and loggers,’ said Fagan.