Ecuador votes in historic referendum on oil extraction in the Amazon

[Judi Lynn]

By Hannah Holland
Updated 11:11 AM EDT, Sun August 20, 2023



Beneath the Yasuní National Park, with intersects the Amazon, the Andes and the Equator, lies Ecuador's largest reserve of crude oil.

Beneath the Yasuní National Park, with intersects the Amazon, the Andes and the Equator, lies Ecuador's largest reserve of crude oil.
Dolores Ochoa/AP

CNN
—
The people of Ecuador are heading to the polls – but they’re voting for more than just a new president. For the first time in history, the people will decide the fate of oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The referendum will give voters the chance to decide whether oil companies can continue to drill in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the Yasuní National Park, home to the last uncontacted indigenous communities in Ecuad



Among the species found in the Yasuní National Park, is the harpy eagle, the second largest bird of prey in the world.
Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

The park encompasses around one million hectares at the meeting point of the Amazon, the Andes and the Equator. Just one hectare of Yasuní land supposedly contains more animal species than the whole of Europe and more tree species than exist in all of North America.

But underneath the land lies Ecuador’s largest reserve of crude oil.

“We are leading the world in tackling climate change by bypassing politicians and democratizing environmental decisions,” said Pedro Bermo, the spokesman for Yasunidos, an environmental collective who pushed for the referendum.

More:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/20/americas/ecuador-election-oil-extraction-amazon-climate-intl/index.html