Cattle ranches now occupy the Ayoreo's land. An Ayoreo man goes hunting behind a gateway to one of the ranches: the sign reads "Private property. No Entry." © Gerald Henzinger/Survival

Paraguay: the Ayoreo ask for support to stop the genocide of their uncontacted relatives

“Please help us in our land claim” Rosalino Picanarei

The forest home of some of the most vulnerable uncontacted people on Earth is being burnt and cleared at a terrifying rate.

Members of the tribe, the Ayoreo, who were forced out of the forest in recent decades, are now suffering repeated waves of disease. Many have died. They do not want their relatives still in the forest to suffer the same fate.

The uncontacted Ayoreo – who avoid contact with outsiders – live in an island of forest, surrounded by vast cattle ranches and farmland where their forest once stood. 

Contacted Ayoreo, supported by local allies and Survival, submitted a formal land claim to the Paraguayan government in 1993. After thirty years, only some disconnected parts of the area have been returned to the Ayoreo: the authorities should have officially protected and titled all of it years ago. While they’ve delayed, huge areas have been destroyed.

A young, contacted Ayoreo man, Rosalino Picanerai, asked Survival to issue this appeal:

“I want to say to people who live in other countries: 'Please help us in our land claim, because we don't want to abandon our people who live in the forest.'

“Now the Ayoreo have very little forest. There was no-one else here before. We were the only ones who lived here. I don't want [outsiders] to make contact [with our uncontacted relatives] – the life of the Ayoreo who have already been contacted is now very hard. The Ayoreo’s life in the forest is very healthy, not the way people live now outside, in the community. And the food situation has got much worse. In our forest we could live well, without needing money. The forest provided food for our family.”