Dongria Kondh

Survival International is campaigning to raise awareness of the plight of the Dongria Kondh of India’s Orissa state, who they say face the destruction of their land and livelihood, including their sacred mountain.

British mining company Vedanta Resources plan to dig an open-pit bauxite mine on the Dongria Kondh’s sacred Niyamgiri mountain, in a situation with close parallels to the plot of James Cameron’s recent movie Avatar, where the Na’vi people of Pandora saw their way of life and sacred tree threatened by a mining company from Earth. Such is the similarity, Survival have appealed directly to Avatar director James Cameron for help.

The Church of England recently sold its stake in Vedanta citing the company’s lack of respect for human rights and local communities, and the UK government last year rebuked Vedanta for its treatment of the Dongria Kondh. Despite this, Vedanta cites its commitment to sustainable development, including the empowerment of women, the positive impact the company is having on communities in Orissa and their integrated approaches to HIV/AIDS in Zambia – amongst other examples.

Survival however report allegations of forced evictions, and the likelihood of destructive mining of 80 million tonnes of bauxite deposits over 30 years, causing pollution and environmental devastation. Finally,

Survival’s own research shows that the introduction of large scale projects in the face of indigenous opposition is almost always accompanied by a high incidence of depression, suicide and substance abuse.

See Survival’s film on the Dongria Kondh and more information.

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