On August 20, 2023, Ecuadorians will decide on a historic referendum to restrict oil in Yasuní National Park. Voters will have the opportunity to protect the rainforest by answering the question, “Do you agree that the government should keep the oil in ITT, known as Block 43, permanently in the ground?” The referendum is the result of a citizens’ initiative that began ten years ago but encountered political and legal obstacles due to the economic and corporate interests seeking to exploit the national park.
A successful “yes” vote for the referendum could protect 1 million hectares of rainforest, and defend the rights of the Tagaeri, Taromenane, and Dugakaeri Indigenous peoples. Studies show that the Amazon is worth more financially when the rainforest is intact – than if destroyed. Furthermore, oil extraction in Ecuador is not likely to pull the country out of debt, with oil’s decreasing stability in the market, and considering international banks’ reduction of oil and gas financing.
Yasuní is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world: there are 1,130 species of trees, more than in Canada and the USA combined, more than 100,000 species of insects per hectare, 94 species of ants in a tree, 10 species of monkeys, 81 species of bats, 540 species of fish in a 5 km segment of any river, 220 species of mammals, 150 species of amphibians, 121 species of reptiles, and approximately 593 species of birds. Yasuní is also one of the areas through which uncontacted Indigenous peoples move, and where the Ecuadorian government has the obligation of conservation in order to avoid threats to their lives.
Nevertheless, the Ecuadorian government continues with oil exploitation in the area and wants to move forward with the construction of new platforms and wells. The referendum’s approval would halt new oil expansion activity, allowing no new wells and no new contracts. It would also require the closure of all currently-producing wells and the removal of all infrastructure within one year of notification of the official referendum results. The decision to uphold this interpretation of the referendum question and set a date for the vote was determined by the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court.
Helena Gualinga, a young woman activist and defender of the Indigenous people of Sarayaku explains in recent public statements that “we as young people who live in the territory, who know the realities of the Amazon and our communities have decided to vote YES to Yasuní because we think that the wealth of the Yasuní is not in the subsoil, it is on the soil, is in the biodiversity that exists in the Yasuní, in the cultural diversity that exists in the Yasuní. Also recognizing the value of the Yasuní at the global level as one of the important ecosystems to maintain the climate and environmental balance (…)”
Paola Maldonado Tobar, Field Advisor at Amazon Watch states:
“Yasuní means so much to the world. It is a Biosphere Reserve classified by UNESCO as ‘one of the areas with the greatest diversity per square meter of the planet.’ It is the largest National Park in Ecuador. It is part of the great Amazon Biome, responsible for the delicate balance of water and climate on our planet. It is part of the ancestral territory of several Waorani Indigenous communities and of the uncontacted Tagaeri, Taromenane, and Dugakaeri Indigenous peoples.
But, unfortunantely, Yasuní is also an area threatened by oil exploitation, timber extraction, and illegal poaching, among other risks. The abundance within Yasuní reflects different interests and perspectives about Yasuní’s benefits. Yes to Yasuní means taking steps to break the dependency on fossil fuels, and contribute to stopping the climate emergency.”
Nathaly Yepéz, Legal Advisor at Amazon Watch states:
“Indigenous peoples and local communities are the greatest protectors of nature and knowledge. Their territories contain more than 21% of the ecosystems in the best state of conservation in the world. As Ecuadorians, we have the historic opportunity to redefine Yasuní as a territory of life and give a clear transforming mandate to governments and the world. As we face an Amazon tipping point and the threat of collapsing biodiversity, It is time to change the paradigm regarding the relationship between society and nature – we must seize every opportunity to protect it.”
