In 1998, the Peruvian government established the Iskonawa Territorial Reserve with the purpose of safeguarding the rights, habitat and conditions to ensure the survival and well-being of the Iskonawa people, both those living in isolation and those who have had initial contact.
The Iskonawa reserve covers an area of approximately 298,487 hectares and is located in the district of Calleria, province of Coronel Portillo, in the department of Ucayali. Its territory includes the headwaters of the Abajao, Utuquinia and Calleria rivers, and extends to the border zone between Peru and Brazil.
The Iskonawas who live in isolation and those who have had some contact with the "outside world" make seasonal migrations in search of new resources for their subsistence. They maintain the custom of inhabiting large houses on a temporary basis, especially during the rainy season. And they take advantage of the dry seasons and the low river to capture small turtles found on the beaches.
On the other hand, there are also territorial conflicts that endanger the lives of the Iskonawa people. Illegal economic activities, such as logging concessions, have highlighted the tensions between the Shipibo-Konibo and Iskonawa people of the Chachibai community.
The Ministry of Culture states: "the lack of territory for the Iskonawa people is a "vulnerability that affects their lives and development as a people (...) in this particular case, the contact process involved spatial mobility to areas where they made contact with other Indigenous peoples, and also a certain territorial dispersion of their population" Foco (2023). Under this framework, the Ministry of Culture continues a legal process for such recognition and protection.
