Wildlife at Risk

Wildlife at risk as Amazon tribes come under threat from oil exploration
The loss of the Tagaeri and Taromenane tribes would add immense pressure on wildlife, conservationists say

The threat posed by oil exploration in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador will affect tribes and, indirectly, wildlife, conservationists say. Photograph: Corbis
Two of the world's last uncontacted tribes are under threat from oil exploration deep into the heart of the Amazon forest in Ecuador, according to conservationists, who say this may indirectly add to the pressure on wildlife.

The Tagaeri and the Taromenane – who have fought off illegal loggers and Catholic missionaries with spears and blowpipes to maintain their isolated, nomadic existence – are now at risk from the construction of roads and drilling wells as petroleum firms carve up the Yasuni national park.

Scientists believe Yasuni is the most biodiverse place on Earth and large swaths of the park remain in pristine condition thanks partly to the ferocity of the indigenous people's resistance to intruders.

That is changing. Although the rights of these tribes are recognised by the country's constitution, their existence has been largely ignored by government authorities responsible for drawing up the boundaries for development, say researchers who have studied their interaction with often-violent and lawless frontiers of globalisation.

The Taromenane – known locally as the "red feet" – are thought to be offshoots of the Huaorani, who speak the same language but have suffered a very different fate. The Huaorani – which means "human being" – also used to be almost entirely carnivorous nomads and fearsome defenders of their rainforest home. They resisted contact until 1958, but now most are settled, often around oil well communities with whom they have a parasitic relationship.

Carlos Andrés Vera, the director of a documentary about the the uncontacted tribes, says the Huaorani take money from the petroleum... [continues]

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