One of the Amazon forest's last nomad tribes, the Awa, is being threatened by bulldozers encroaching on their protected reserve, the group Survival International said Thursday.
The 300 Indians making up the community in Brazil's Maranhao state are "fleeing from bulldozers as their last forest is rapidly destroyed," it said in a statement.
The tribe includes 60 members who have never had contact with the outside world, added the group, which fights for indigenous rights.
"Loggers, ranchers and settlers are invading the Awa's land, hunting the animals they rely on and exposing them to disease and violence. One group of loggers is only three kilometers from an Awa community," it said.
The group called for urgent measures from the Brazilian government.
"Unless the government acts fast they may not see the century out," warned Fiona Watson, a Survival International activist who had visited some of the Awa.
