Dear Jack,

It’s never quiet in the rainforests of Halmahera Island, Indonesia. The air is rich with the chattering of birds, the rushing of rivers and the conversations of the Indigenous Hongana Manyawa people as they gather fruit and play with their children. As many as five hundred of the Hongana Manyawa are uncontacted, living self-sufficiently on lands that have been sacred to their ancestors for centuries. These forests are their home.

But now, a new sound drowns out everything else: the bulldozers have arrived, destroying the forest, biodiversity and homes of those who live there.

Jack, imagine the roar of the engines as they close in on you and your family; the shouts of outsiders as they invade your home, bringing new, deadly diseases with them; the trauma of seeing your world collapse around you. This is reality for the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa – and it’s all being destroyed for mining.

If this continues, they will not survive.

We’re doing everything we can to stop the mining on the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa’s territory. But we can’t do it alone.

The Hongana Manyawa’s land is rich in nickel, a metal increasingly sought after by mining companies for electric car batteries. An area of forest the size of two soccer pitches is cleared every day to make way for the world’s largest nickel mine, Weda Bay Nickel.

At this rate, the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa could be completely wiped out.

“If we do not support the fight for their forest, my uncontacted relatives will just die. The forest is everything, it is their heart and life. But it is being destroyed now – the river, the animals, everything is gone” – contacted Hongana Manyawa man, 2023.

Survival has fought and won similar battles alongside Indigenous peoples in the past – but this has only been possible with your help.

By donating regularly to Survival, you give us the best chance to stop this destruction before it’s too late. Jack, will you support the Hongana Manyawa and other Indigenous peoples fighting for their futures?

Thank you,

Caroline Pearce
Director