The Shompen are one of the most isolated Indigenous peoples on Earth. They live only on Great Nicobar Island in India, and most of them refuse contact with outsiders.
Numbering around 300 people, they are now at risk of being totally wiped out by an Indian government “mega-development” plan to transform their small island home into the “Hong Kong of India.”
If the project goes ahead, huge swathes of their unique rainforest will be destroyed – to be replaced by a mega-port; a new city; an international airport; a power station; a defense base; an industrial park; and up to 650,000 settlers - a population the size of Las Vegas.
When their territories are threatened, uncontacted peoples are among the most vulnerable people on the planet and the Shompen will not be able to survive this overwhelming and catastrophic transformation of their island. The UN has called for the project to be suspended. Now we need the Indian government to act.
Please tell India’s Tribal Affairs Minister that the project must be scrapped, or the Shompen will be wiped out.
(Your email will be copied to the other relevant Indian government ministers and authorities and to the companies currently vying to build a key stage of the project – the mega-port. They include: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd and JSW Infrastructure Ltd.
