230 oil rigs in the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador must be demolished. 726 million barrels of oil remain underground. Nature must be returned and restored. That was decided by almost six out of ten Ecuadorians in a referendum last week. – This is a historic victory, says the activist group Yasunidos in a statement. TO BE DEMOLISHED: Aerial photo of the oil rig Tamboocha for the company Petroecuador in the Yasuni National Park in north-east Ecuador in June 2023. The rig must now be demolished. Photo: RODRIGO BUENDIA / AFP The group has worked for over ten years to give this part of the rainforest back to the indigenous people, the animals and the plants. DEMONSTRATING: Waorani people dance and play music during a demonstration against further oil drilling in Yasuni National Park. Photo: MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP They already collected hundreds of thousands of signatures in 2013 to request the referendum. Only in May did Ecuador’s Supreme Court decide that it should take place. – As a Waorani woman and mother, I am filled with joy by the Ecuadorians’ choice to stop oil drilling in my people’s sacred homeland, says climate and indigenous activist Nemonte Nenquimo, who has promoted the concerns of the Waorani tribe. Nenquimo calls the result of the referendum “a victory for the forest’s soul” But not everyone is satisfied. LIVING IN THE RAINFOREST: The small Napo saki monkey is a human-shy but widespread species in Yasuni National Park. Photo: Carol Foil / Flickr – Will hurt the country Ecuador is struggling economically. After tremendous economic growth at the start of this millennium, the last ten years have been characterized by several recessions. Thus, the oil stoppage is causing concern in the country that was long an economic leader in Latin America. – All this means is that another country will sell fuel to Ecuador. We are shooting ourselves in the foot, says economic commentator Alberto Acosta-Burneo in the newspaper Analisis Seminal. Energy Minister Fernando Santos is tearing his own hair. – We now produce 20 million barrels a year. It is worth around $1.2 billion. This is going to damage the country, says Santos to local radio and denies that the oil drilling has caused damage to the environment. TIGHTER COURSE: Residents of Quito carry cylinders of gas home after the price of fuel and groceries skyrocketed in Ecuador. The reason was, among other things, that protests led by indigenous communities caused major delays in deliveries. Photo: GALO PAGUAY / AFP Experts are now discouraging foreign companies from investing in Ecuador. Just a few weeks ago, the credit rating agency Fitch decided that Ecuador’s rating had to be downgraded to “CCC+”. This means that Fitch believes there is a “significant risk” that Ecuador will not be able to repay its loans, and “bankruptcy is a real possibility”. One reason for this is that the country is politically unstable and struggles with drug crime. In the run-up to the election campaign just a few weeks ago, one of the most important presidential candidates was killed. Another reason is that the result of the referendum will lead to a decrease of 600 million dollars in tax revenue for the state. That sum alone corresponds to 1.9 per cent of the national budget. SPARELY POPULATED: Yasuni National Park is located in northeastern Ecuador. A large part of the country is rainforest, but few of the 18 million Ecuadorians live there. “Uncontacted” indigenous people The National Park, which is now to be cleared for the oil industry, is home to several indigenous tribes. Among them are the Tagaeri and the Taromenane people, who are two of the world’s only “uncontacted” indigenous peoples. This means that they live in self-chosen isolation from the rest of the world. WAORANI: Waorani people practice bow and arrow in Yasuni National Park. Photo: Dolores Ochoa / AP Yasuni National Park stretches over almost 10,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of Rogaland county. In 1989 it was classified as a protected “biosphere” by Unesco. It is therefore extremely important to protect the area from degradation of nature, loss of biological diversity and climate change. PARROT PARADISE: Many parrots are gathered in Yasuni National Park Photo: Geoff Galice / Flickr/Wikimedia Commons Then oil was discovered. The former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, proposed a solution: the international community could invest 3.6 billion dollars, which corresponds to half the value of the discovered oil. In return, Ecuador would keep the oil in the ground. Rafael Correa at a conference on Yasuni National Park in 2013. Photo: Victor R. Caivano / AP But there was never enough money, and in 2013 Correa gave the green light to build oil rigs in the rainforest. The park is home to 610 bird species, 139 amphibian species and 121 reptile species. At least three of the species are found only in Yasuni. Now they will soon be able to live undisturbed again.
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– A victory for the forest’s soul – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
