Race to save Ecuador's Yasuní national park from oil lobby
The fate of one of the hotspots of global diversity is hanging by a thread as conservation and indigenous groups in Ecuador race to raise a petition of over half a million names which would force a national referendum on whether foreign oil companies be allowed into the Yasuní national park.
President Rafael Correa of Ecuador appeared to sign the death warrant of the park last week when he unilaterally dissolved a radical conservation plan which guaranteed that the 840m barrels of oil thought to lie below one area of the park would remain unexploited if the international community raised $3.6bn (£2.3bn) over 13 years. Although $336m had been pledged by governments, local authorities, charities and individuals around the world, only $13m is said to have been deposited in the two trust funds administered by the UN.
Correa's decision to allow oil companies to drill below one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, where at least one tribe lives in voluntary isolation, was met by demonstrations in Quito and condemnation by international conservation organisations.
The only chance of stopping the companies now is to raise a petition of 5% of the country's 10m voters to force a referendum. If the names can be collected, Correa is likely to be defeated because recent polls suggest a large majority of Ecuadoreans remain in favour of the Yasuní-ITT initiative. This week marches were being planned in cities including Quito, Machala, Cuenca, Puyo and Guayaquil.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/23/ecuador-yasuni-national-park