69 238. States have a general duty to prevent damage to the environment in indigenous or tribal territories. States must adopt the measures that are necessary to protect indigenous communities’ habitat from ecological deterioration as a consequence of extractive, cattle-raising, agricultural, timber and other economic activities, as well as from the consequences of infrastructural projects, given that such deterioration reduces their traditional capacities and strategies in terms of food, water and subsistence activities. In adopting these measures, States must place “special emphasis on protecting the forests and 253 waters, which are fundamental for their health and survival as communities” . 239. In more specific terms, the IACHR has demanded that States establish adequate safeguards and mecanisms to supervise, control and guarantee there is sufficient personnel so as to ensure that concessions for the exploitation of natural resources do not cause environmental damages 254 that affect the lands or the indigenous communities ; and it has prompted them to “take steps to prevent harm to affected individuals through the conduct of its licensees and private actors (…) [and to] ensure that measures are in place to prevent and protect against the occurrence of environmental contamination 255 which threatens the lives of the inhabitants of development sectors.” 240. By virtue of the foregoing rules, States are under the obligation of controlling and preventing illegal extractive activities, such as illegal mining, logging or fishing in ancestral indigenous or tribal territories, and of investigating and punishing those responsible for them. On different occasions, the IACHR has described situations where illegal extraction of natural resources in indigenous territories are taking place, explaining that such activities constitute threats and usurpations of the effective property 256 and possession of indigenous territories , and that they imperil said peoples’ survival, especially because of their impact upon the rivers, soils and other resources that constitute the main sources of their 257 livelihood. Evaluation of the present case 241. The petitioner indigenous communities have constantly and consistently reported the occurrence of logging and illegal extraction of wood and other natural resources in their territories, with the ensuing result of environmental degradation by deforestation. These illegal natural resource extractive activities have been timely reported to the State authorities by the indigenous inhabitants, and in different ambits, in particular in the course of the proceedings before the IACHR. The State representatives have acknowledged the existence of this problem, and vowed to adopt measures to prevent its occurrence. Nonetheless, as it has been reiteratively reported to the IACHR, illegal logging continues to devastate the environmental integrity of Fiscal Lots 55 and 14, at significant levels. 242. In light of the foregoing considerations, the IACHR considers that the Argentinean State, at the national and provincial levels, had a due diligence duty to take effective measures to prevent illegal logging in the ancestral territory of these indigenous communities. In spite of the signature of successive substantial agreements and of the acquisition of other formal commitments in which State authorities announced they would carry out actions to control illegal wood extraction, it has not been proven before the IACHR that such actions were adopted in a manner that was effective and proportional to the serious danger of deforestation caused by irregular loggers inside the territory. 253 CIDH, Tercer Informe sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en Paraguay. Doc. OEA/Ser./L/VII.110, Doc. 52, 9 de marzo de 2001, Capítulo IX, párrs. 38, 50 – Recomendación 8. 254 CIDH, Informe No. 40/04, Caso 12.053, Comunidades Indígenas Mayas del Distrito de Toledo v. Belice, 12 de octubre de 2004, párr. 147. 255 CIDH, Informe sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en Ecuador. Doc. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.96, Doc. 10 rev.1, 24 de abril de 1997. 256 CIDH, Informe sobre la Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Brasil. Doc. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.97, Doc. 29 rev. 1, 29 de septiembre de 1997, párr. 33. 257 2009. CIDH, Democracia y Derechos Humanos en Venezuela, 2009. Doc. OEA/Ser.L/V/II, Doc. 54, 30 de diciembre de