Indian Luxury Resort Endangers Isolated Jarawa Tribe

The survival of the Jarawa tribe, on the Andaman Islands in India, is threatened by the construction of a luxury resort by Barefoot India, a so-called ‘environmentally friendly’ tourism company.

The Jarawa tribe has only had outside contact since 1998, and the 320 members are being affected by poaching on their land, pressure from settlers and loggers, and exposure to diseases, alcohol, and possible sexual exploitation.

• » See also: Javan Rhinos Confirmed in Vietnam!
• » Get EcoWorldly by RSS or sign up by email.

“One has to wonder why Barefoot is building a hotel so close to the Jarawa, if it is not to allow tourists the opportunity to intrude into their lives. It will also bring an influx of workers and settlers to the area, increasing the considerable pressure on the Jarawa and their land. And it will risk exposing them to diseases to which they have no immunity, and to alcohol, which has ravaged other tribes on the Andamans and elsewhere.” - Sophie Grig, Survival International

The new resort, an offshoot of an existing Barefoot resort, is being built only 500 meters from the reserve set aside by the Indian government for the Jarawa. Local government officials are appealing a court ruling from Calcutta which gave the go-ahead on the project.

“The resort is next to a path the Jarawa use regularly as they hunt and gather in the forest. There is no way Barefoot could avoid putting at serious risk the lives of these extremely vulnerable people, whose existence is already threatened by poachers invading their land and by the road that cuts through their forest.” - Grig

Survival has been working to protect the tribe’s land and hold the Indian government to its policy of minimum outside intervention, and was instrumental in keeping the nomadic tribe from being forcibly settled. To donate to the campaign or send a letter to the Indian government, see Survival’s Jarawa page.

For more information on the effects of contact on isolated tribes, read the group’s report Progress Can Kill.

Image: Venkatesh K at Flickr under Creative Commons License

Tweet This Post