A scientific expedition into a remote region of Paraguay has been suspended by government officials, over concerns that the expedition members might encounter an uncontacted indigenous group.

Scientists at London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) and a Paraguayan conservation group hoped to begin their expedition to characterize the biodiversity of the country’s Dry Chaco region this week. The Dry Chaco, which extends into Bolivia and Peru, is the largest dry forest in South America, and it is currently threatened by logging.

Iniciativa Amotocodie, a non-governmental organization based in Paraguay, voiced concerns that expedition members could contact self-isolated indigenous Ayoreo. NHM, meanwhile, has said it will take precautions to avoid such contacts. For a run-down of the controversy, read our story here.

On Friday, the Director General of Paraguay’s Ministry of the Environment, Isabel Basualdo, sent a letter to Richard Lane, scientific director of the NHM, delaying the expedition, pending further consultation with settled Ayoreo members and other stakeholders.

In a statement NHM said:

The Ministry for the Environment of Paraguay, one of our partners on the joint NHM/Paraguayan expedition to the Dry Chaco region, has decided to undertake further consultation with the Ayoreo people and there will be a suspension of activities while this takes place. The concerns of the un-contacted people are extremely important to us. We will continue to take advice on these matters from the Paraguayan authorities. We hope that the issues can be resolved soon.

Kim Hill, an athropologist at Arizona State University in Tempe who has worked in Paraguay, says the chances of an encounter between the scientists and the Ayoreo are “extremely remote.”

Image of Dry Chaco courtesy of brauliomora via Flickr under Creative Commons