Logging ban protects Brazil tribe

BBC NEWS | Americas | Logging ban protects Brazil tribe.

Logging ban protects Brazil tribe A Brazilian judge has reinstated an order banning loggers from land inhabited by a remote Amazonian tribe. The ruling covers a 166,000 hectare (410,000-acre) area of rainforest in the north-eastern Rio Pardo region. Campaigners had warned that the "uncontacted" group of Indians faced being wiped out if nothing was done to protect them. Indian rights groups are now urging the government to enforce the ruling, fearing a violent backlash by loggers. ‘Act quickly’ Federal Judge Luiz Fux had lifted the order in March following an application from a consortium of logging companies, which convinced him the ruling would damage their business. But he reversed the judgement after an appeal from Brazil’s federal Indian bureau (Funai) and state prosecutors. The original protection order has been lifted and reinstated on several occasions since it was made in 2001. It was obtained to protect the Rio Pardo Indians, a group so isolated that their existence has been hard to confirm.