January 19, 2007

Save the Amazon Indians

Experts double estimate of unknown Amazon tribesIndian groups surviving in Brazil's Amazon rain forest are far more numerous than previously believed, but they risk extermination at the hands of loggers and miners, experts say.

A study by Funai, the Brazilian government's national Indian foundation, estimates that around 67 Indian groups live in isolation from the outside world, up from previous estimates of around 40.

"With the rate of destruction in the Amazon, it is amazing there are any isolated people left at all," said Fiona Watson, campaigns co-ordinator with Survival International, an advocacy group for tribal peoples.

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