The Natural History Museum has suspended a research trip to Paraguay amid warnings that it posed a “severe risk”
to indigenous tribes.
The museum planned to send a 60-strong group of scientists to the country’s remote Dry Chaco region last month. The unusual ecosystem in northern Paraguay has not been explored scientifically for more than a century.
The expedition, organised in partnership with local conservation groups, planned to donate specimens to the country’s national collections and send duplicates to London where possible.
But campaigners warned that the group risked trespassing on to the territories of the nomadic Ayoreo people, who are among the last uncontacted tribes in the world.
In a letter to the museum, anthropologist Benno Glauser argued that the trip would threaten the health, safety and legal rights of the Ayoreo. He added that tribal groups sometimes reacted violently to visitors because of aggressive deforestation in the region.
As a result, the ministry for the environment of Paraguay, one of the expedition partners, decided to delay the expedition pending further consultation with indigenous leaders.
