Nepal’s hydropower plans spark Leonardo DiCaprio-backed backlash: ‘attack on our ancestral lands’

The A-list celebrity activist has amplified local outrage over new hydropower plants that conservationists warn will wreak devastation

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A view of the headwaters of the Chhujung River in Lungba Samba, Nepal, where planned hydropower plants have sparked an outcry among conservationists and indigenous people. Photo: Lungba Samba Community/Handout

Published: 12:00pm, 25 Jun 2024Updated: 12:07pm, 25 Jun 2024

Planned hydropower plants in Nepal’s protected areas have outraged conservationists, who warn the projects will devastate the region’s ecology and displace indigenous communities. Now, Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio is lending his star power to their cause.

DiCaprio, a known environmental advocate, last week voiced concerns over the dam construction on the Chhujung, Chhunjam and Bakhang rivers in the Lungba Samba valley of eastern Nepal. The region is home to several endangered plant and animal species, including red pandas and clouded leopards.

Amplifying local activists, DiCaprio wrote on his Facebook and Instagram accounts that the construction “threatens one of the Earth’s most pristine places” and violates laws that “prevents destructive hydropower, road building, and mining practices”.

Activists launched an online petition earlier this month calling on hydropower companies Sangrila Urja, White Flower Energy, and Summit Energy Solution to keep their hands off the sacred rivers and lands of Nepal’s Sankhuwasabha district. The ecologically vital region is the ancestral home of the marginalised Lhomi Singsa and Bhote indigenous communities, who have lived there for generations.

The proposed hydropower projects were an “attack on our faith and ancestral lands”, said Lhomi Singsa Welfare Centre Chairman Lakpa Angjuk Bhote, who accused the private companies of being purely profit-motivated and ignoring local complaints.

“The companies don’t speak about the rights of the indigenous people,” he said. “Our rivers and forests are sacred to us, and they are destroying our habitat, the wildlife and the environment.”

Nepal’s vast hydropower potential has fuelled a lucrative industry, with the country ambitiously targeting 30,000 megawatts of generation by 2035 – around 10 times its current output. To meet this goal, it has signed a deal to export 10,000MW to India within the next decade, while also opening up the market to Bangladesh.