A forest tribe compared to the Na'vi from the Avatar films that is in danger of being wiped out by electric car battery mining could be protected thanks to Elon Musk's Tesla saying the idea of "no-go zones" should be explored.
The Hongana Manyawa could be the most environmentally-friendly people on the planet, even their name means "People of the Forest", and they live exclusively off the land on the tiny Indonesian island of Halmahera.
As many as 500 in the tribe remain uncontacted, meaning they have no contact with industrialised society, but their whole way of life is in danger of being destroyed by the global thirst for raw materials for so-called eco-friendly electric car batteries.
Like the giant aliens, the Na'vi, in James Cameron's Avatar films, the Hongana Manyawa have a fierce link with their land and the trees. The tribe mark the birth of an infant by burying the umbilical cord with the seeds of a tree, and also emtomb their dead under the trunks.
But human rights campaigners Survival International say the people are suffering from incursions into their land from mining companies, who bring with them deadly disease the tribe have no immunity to, and who cut down the forest home of the people making them homeless and leading them to starve.
Last year footage shared by Express.co.uk went viral showing terrified uncontacted tribal people firing arrows at a bulldozer about to enter their forest.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited Indonesia earlier this month and in his company's recently published impact report it says 13 percent of the nickel the firm needs to make car batteries comes from the mineral-rich country.
But that same report has now made the need to explore the "establishment of a no-go zone for mining to protect indigenous and human rights, particularly those of uncontacted communities".
Human rights organisation Survival International believes this is the first time one of the big vehicle manufacturers has recognised the plight of uncontacted people caught in the path of the mining industry linked to electric cars.
The nickel mines on Halmahera are not directly sourced by Tesla, but the company warned suppliers they should only operate where indigenous people have the right to "grant or withhold free, prior and informed consent".
Callum Russell, Asia Research and Advocacy Officer at Survival International, said this could be ground-breaking for the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa because under the UN and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) it is impossible to obtain consent from uncontacted peoples.
He said:"Uncontacted tribes are recognised as the most vulnerable people in the world, they have no immunity to outside diseases and contact with outsiders frequently results in two thirds of the tribe's population being destroyed.
"The Hongana Manyawa are a symbol really, do we want to let these people die? and the forest they have with them? so that we can feel good about driving electric cars here.
"It's really encouraging that Tesla has taken this stand, we are calling on all electric companies to state that they will not take nickel from Halmahera from the territory of the Hongana Manyawa."
Mr Russell added the Hongana Manyawa's experience with the outside world has parallels with the plot of the Avatar films because of their connection to the forest.
He added: "What they do is they plant the umbilical cord along with seeds for a tree so that they grow with the tree. For a nomadic people this also allows them to know where a child was born and it serves as a marker for their age because the tree grows at the same time as the child.
"Cutting down these trees is the equivalent to murder for them, and I spoke to one Hongana Manyawa man last year and he said he went back to his birth tree and it and the whole forest had been cut down. He was heartbroken.
"They have been compared to the Na'vi and in the film Avatar the mining was happening for a renewable energy source, there are a lot of similarities."
One man from the contacted Hongana Manyawa told Survival International: “This is the message directly from the forest, please don't destroy our forest, we need it.”
Hairani is a Hongana Manyawa, her home was destroyed by mining and she has since had to live with the neigbouring contacted Tobelo tribe who speak a similar language.
She said last week: "I never gave them my forest or my gardens, but the evil people kept coming.
"Evil people came many times. I never gave my consent when they came and took my land. I do not give my consent. I did not consent for them to take my gardens and my forest which I have guarded all this time. But they continued to come and kept coming and coming."
Caroline Pearce, Survival International’s Director, said: “This is a huge wake-up call. Survival has been pointing out for years that mining, ranching, and oil and gas drilling on the lands of uncontacted Indigenous peoples are not just a violation of Indigenous rights, but a human disaster that brings disease, death and even genocide."
According to Survival International pressure from mining means the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa, despite contributing nothing to climate change, now risk being wiped out by the industrialised world’s switch to electric cars.
After Elon Musk's visit to Indonesia this month, the country's top investment official said that the government had proposed to Tesla the construction of an electric vehicle battery plant in the nickel-rich country.
The official spoke after Mr Musk met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo while attending a water conference on the island of Bali.
Mr Musk did not make any formal announcements related to his investment plans in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
However, Mr Musk said in reply to a journalist's question about his plans for Indonesia at a news conference on Sunday after the ceremonial launch of the Starlink service alongside Indonesian government dignitaries, that “I think it’s likely that we will be investing", adding: “I think it’s quite likely that my company will invest in Indonesia.”
Indonesia supplies 40 percent of the world’s nickel and has the potential to increase this to 75 percent by 2030, according to the government data.
The government has set a goal of producing 600,000 electric vehicles by 2030, and will require EVs and related components produced in Indonesia to contain of 60 percent local content by 2027.
