I don't share the good news on the climate and biodiversity primarily because there isn't much to report. Still, an event yesterday is worthy of visibility, especially when people's power can collectively defeat the power and influence of the fossil fuel industry in a victory for the people of the Amazon and the planet's climate.
Ecuadorians voted to prevent the state oil company from drilling in a part of the Amazon Rainforest, home to uncontacted tribes and biodiversity. Surprisingly, having National Park status in Ecuador did not protect Yasuni National Park in eastern Ecuador from the extraction industries. The fight to protect this world wonder has taken decades to achieve.
The vote is a great victory, and with the election of LuLa in Brazil, there may be some hope for a biome that is currently at severe risk of collapse. Much more needs to be done; no place is safe from Big Oil. The Eastern Amazon has already tipped from a carbon sink to a carbon source and is transitioning from rainforest to savannah.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in a protected area of the Amazon, an important decision that will require the state oil company to end its operations in a region that’s home to isolated tribes and is a hotspot of biodiversity.
With over 90% of the ballots counted by early Monday, around six in 10 Ecuadorians rejected the oil exploration in Block 43, situated within Yasuni National Park. The referendum took place along with the presidential election, which will be decided in a runoff between leftist candidate Luisa González and right-wing contender Daniel Noboa. The country is experiencing political turmoil following the assassination of one of the candidates, Fernando Villavicencio.
Yasuni National Park is inhabited by the Tagaeri and Taromenani, who live in voluntary isolation, and other Indigenous groups. In 1989, it was designated, along with neighboring areas, a world biosphere reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO. Encompassing a surface area of around 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres), the area boasts 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians, and 121 species of reptiles. At least three species are endemic.
“Ecuadorians have come together for this cause to provide a life opportunity for our Indigenous brothers and sisters and also to show the entire world, amidst these challenging times of climate change, that we stand in support of the rainforest,” Nemo Guiquita, a leader of the Waorani tribe, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
The battle over Yasuni National Park has taken decades, as reported in detail by Monga Bay. Governments, over time, have split the baby between the oil industry and forces for justice and protection of the rainforest.
In 2007, the Yasuní-ITT initiative was created as an area off-limits to drilling but only under the condition that the international community compensate Ecuador for the oil revenue it would lose — estimated at around $3.6 billion. By 2013, that plan had failed and Petroecuador, the state-run oil company, was pushing to start up oil extraction in the area.
A referendum presented by the government in 2018 expanded the park’s “intangible” zone by another 50,000 hectares (123,552 acres) and reduced the total area dedicated to oil extraction from 1,030 hectares to 300 hectares (2,545 acres to 741 acres), but many conservation groups said it wouldn’t be enough to stop extraction in the park and protect uncontacted tribes.
This weekend’s referendum used more specific language than the 2018 one and generated more confidence from conservationists and Indigenous communities because it was born out of a grassroots campaign rather than introduced by government officials.
Anti-extractives group Yasunidos started collecting petition signatures to trigger a referendum after the ITT initiative failed in 2013. It also spent years fighting for the validity of the signatures in various appeals courts.
“There should never have been oil exploitation in Yasuní,” Pedro Bermeo, a Yasunidos spokesperson, told Mongabay. “Oil exploitation in Yasuní should always have been prohibited, not only because the people there live in isolation but because it’s a protected area.”
“Communities that take a stand against environmental destruction are now in the firing line of companies’ private security guards, state forces, and contract killers. For every land and environmental defender who is killed, many more are threatened with death, eviction, and destruction of their resources. “These are not isolated incidents. They are symptomatic of a systematic assault on remote and indigenous communities by state and corporate actors.” Billy Kyte, Global Witness
Environmental activist Olivia Arévalo Lomas and Shaman of the Shipibo Konibo Indigenous people of Peru was murdered on April 19, 2018, with five shots to her heart. You can still listen to her voice.