Uncontacted Hongana Manyawa people warning off bulldozers destroying their rainforest.
Rainforest inhabited by hundreds of uncontacted Indigenous Hongana Manyawa people has been targeted for mining, which is devastating the rainforest – and the people who call it home.
The vast mining scheme on the island of Halmahera is part of Indonesia’s plan to become a major producer of electric car batteries – the Indonesian government is desperate to attract Tesla, Ford, Volkswagen and other international car companies to buy nickel, used in the batteries.
The Hongana Manyawa – which means ‘People of the Forest’ in their own language – are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples of Indonesia and around 500 of them reject contact with outsiders.
The uncontacted Hongana Manyawa now face the threat of seeing their land, and everything they need to survive, destroyed by corporations rushing to produce supposedly eco-friendly cars for people living thousands of miles away.
Please tell the biggest electric vehicle companies to pledge that none of the minerals they buy ever comes from the lands of uncontacted Indigenous people in Halmahera – and let the mining companies, and the Indonesian authorities, know you’ve done so.
The Hongana Manyawa desperately need your support if they’re to survive.
Your email will be sent to:
Electric vehicle companies Volkswagen, BMW, Stellantis, Ford, Renault, BYD, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz and Rivian; and will cc in mining companies Eramet, Antam, Tsingshan, Wana Kencana Mineral, Nusa Karya Arindo; processing companies, Huayou, CNGR, and the Indonesian and French authorities.
