Groups living in voluntary isolation have “minimal to no contact with those outside of their own group,” said Dr. Subhra Bhattacharjee, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council & an #IndigenousRights expert based in Germany. “A simple cold that you & I recover from in a week…they could die of that cold.”

Beyond disease, contact can destroy livelihoods & belief systems. #InternationalLaw requires free, prior & informed consent — known as #FPIC — before any activity on #IndigenousLands.