Dear Jack,

The Shompen are one of the most isolated tribes on Earth. For thousands of years, they have sustained and been sustained by the rainforest that is their home. 

But official plans to turn their small island in the Indian Ocean into “the Hong Kong of India” are set to destroy their unique forest and sacred rivers, and threaten their very existence. 

Up to 400 Shompen live on Great Nicobar in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As nomadic hunter-gatherers, they draw everything they need from their astonishingly biodiverse rainforest home. For centuries, most Shompen have refused all contact with outsiders, keeping themselves safe from epidemics and violence, and their forest safe from destruction. 

But the Indian government’s ‘Great Nicobar Project’ is set to create a mega-port, an international airport, a power station, a military base, an industrial park, tourist attractions, and even a city with the population of Las Vegas, all on the Shompen’s island.

If these plans go ahead, they will almost certainly destroy the Shompen and their home. Please help us take action to prevent this.

We are now on day 5 of Uncontacted Tribes Week. Thousands of you have already signed our pledge - and there’s still time to share it with your friends! If you haven’t yet donated, please consider doing so.

Thank you, as always, for being part of our movement and taking action to help let uncontacted tribes live.

With thanks, 

Caroline Pearce
Director
Survival International