Deep within the lush expanses of Brazil’s Amazon and the dense forests of Indonesia, some of the world’s most secluded Indigenous communities face an increasing threat. Roads, miners, and drug traffickers are encroaching upon these isolated peoples, creating a crisis that unfolds largely away from public attention and without meaningful state intervention.

In an attempt to shed light on this pressing issue, Survival International, a London-based organization dedicated to Indigenous rights, has published a comprehensive report. This significant work identifies at least 196 uncontacted Indigenous groups across 10 countries, with a particular concentration in the South American nations that encompass the Amazon rainforest.

According to the report, which was made public on Sunday, a staggering 65 percent of these groups are under threat from logging activities, 40 percent from mining operations, and 20 percent from the expansion of agribusiness.

Fiona Watson, the director of research and advocacy at Survival International with over 30 years of experience in Indigenous rights, describes these events as “silent genocides.” She emphasizes the lack of media coverage and public awareness, stating, “There are no TV crews, no journalists. But they are happening, and they’re happening now.”

Governments often place little priority on these issues, as critics argue that uncontacted peoples are seen as politically insignificant. These communities do not participate in elections and their territories are frequently viewed as lucrative targets for industries such as logging, mining, and oil extraction.

Public debate is also shaped by stereotypes – some romanticise them as “lost tribes,” while others view them as barriers to development.

Survival’s research concludes that half of these groups “could be wiped out within 10 years if governments and companies do not act..

Who the uncontacted peoples are

Uncontacted peoples are not “lost tribes” frozen in time, Watson said.

They are contemporary societies that deliberately avoid outsiders after generations of violence, slavery and disease.

“They don’t need anything from us,” Watson said.

“They’re happy in the forest. They have incredible knowledge and they help keep these very valuable forests standing – essential to all humanity in the fight against climate change.”

Survival’s research shows that more than 95 per cent of the world’s uncontacted peoples live in the Amazon, with smaller populations in South and South-East Asia and the Pacific.

These communities live by hunting, fishing and small-scale cultivation, maintaining languages and traditions that predate modern nation-states.

Why contact can be deadly

Groups living in voluntary isolation have “minimal to no contact with those outside of their own group,” Subhra Bhattacharjee, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council and an Indigenous rights expert based in Bonn, Germany, said.

“A simple cold that you and I recover from in a week … they could die of that cold.”

Beyond disease, contact can destroy livelihoods and belief systems. International law requires free, prior and informed consent – known as FPIC – before any activity on Indigenous lands.

“But when you have groups living in voluntary isolation, who you cannot get close to without risking their lives, you cannot get FPIC,” Bhattacharjee said.

“No FPIC means no consent.”

Her organisation follows a strict policy: “No contact, no-go zones,” she said, arguing that if consent cannot be obtained safely, contact should not occur at all.

The Associated Press reported last year on loggers killed by bow and arrow after entering Mashco Piro territory in Peru’s Amazon, with Indigenous leaders warning that such clashes are inevitable when frontier zones go unpoliced.

How the threats have evolved

Watson, who has worked across the Amazon for 35 years, said early threats stemmed from colonisation and state-backed infrastructure.

During Brazil’s military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985, highways were bulldozed through the rainforest “without due regard” for the people living there.

“The roads acted as a magnet for settlers,” she said, describing how loggers and cattle ranchers followed, bringing gunmen and disease that wiped out entire communities.

A railway line now planned in Brazil could potentially affect three uncontacted peoples, she said, but the rise of organised crime poses an even greater risk.

Across Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, drug traffickers and illegal gold miners have moved deep into Indigenous territories.

“Any chance encounter runs the risk of transmitting the flu, which can easily wipe out an uncontacted people within a year of contact,” she said.

“And bows and arrows are no match for guns.

Evangelical missionary incursions have also caused outbreaks. Watson recalled how, under former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, an evangelical pastor was placed in charge of the government’s unit for uncontacted peoples and gained access to their coordinates.

Ways to protect uncontacted peoples

Protecting uncontacted peoples, experts say, will require both stronger laws and a shift in how the world views them – not as relics of the past, but as citizens of the planet whose survival affects everyone’s future.

Advocates have several recommendations.

First, governments must formally recognise and enforce Indigenous territories, making them off-limits to extractive industries.

Mapping is crucial, Bhattacharjee said, because identifying the approximate territories of uncontacted peoples allows governments to protect those areas from loggers or miners.

But, she added, it must be done with extreme caution and from a distance to avoid contact that could endanger the groups’ health or autonomy.

Second, corporations and consumers must help stop the flow of money driving destruction.

Survival’s report calls for companies to trace their supply chains to ensure that commodities, such as gold, timber and soy, are not sourced from Indigenous lands.

“Public opinion and pressure are essential,” Watson said.

“It’s largely through citizens and the media that so much has already been achieved to recognise uncontacted peoples and their rights.”

Finally, advocates say the world must recognise why their protection matters.

Beyond human rights, these communities play an outsized role in stabilising the global climate.

“With the world under pressure from climate change, we will sink or swim together,” Bhattacharjee said.

What the new report calls for

Survival International’s report urges a global no-contact policy: legal recognition of uncontacted territories, suspension of mining, oil and agribusiness projects in or near those lands and prosecution of crimes against Indigenous groups.

Watson said logging remains the biggest single threat, but mining is close behind. She pointed to the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa on Indonesia’s Halmahera Island, where nickel for electric-vehicle batteries is being mined.

“People think electric cars are a green alternative,” she said, “but mining companies are operating on the land of uncontacted peoples and posing enormous threats.”

In South America, illegal gold miners in the Yanomami territory of Brazil and Venezuela continue to use mercury to extract gold — contamination that has poisoned rivers and fish.

“The impact is devastating — socially and physically,” Watson said.