Pope Francis says Amazon indigenous people under greater threat than ever

• Pontiff addresses representatives of 400 indigenous groups in Peru
• Amazon is 'cultural reserve' threatened by new types of colonialism

Pope Francis has warned that the Amazon's indigenous people have "never been so threatened in their territories as they are now" and demanded an end to the relentless exploitation of the region's timber, gas and gold.

Addressing an indigenous audience in Peru's jungle city of Puerto Maldonado, the pope expanded on the environmental message of his 2015 encyclical, taking aim at the multiple threats faced by the Amazon rainforest and telling its indigenous inhabitants they were a "call to conscience for a way of life which could not measure its own costs".