Historic victory: Ecuadorians stop oil extraction in Amazon
Aug 21 2023
3 minutes
On Sunday, Ecuadorians went to the polls – and not just to elect a new president and parliament. For the first time in history, citizens of a country spoke out in a popular referendum and voted against oil extraction in the Yasuní National Park. A huge victory, because it is the first time that a country has chosen to defend life and nature and leave oil in the ground!
According to the first results of a binding referendum, Ecuadorians decided that Oil drilling in Yasuní National Park must be stoppedThe nature reserve in the Amazon is of invaluable in terms of biodiversity. According to scientists, one hectare of Yasuní is said to contain more animal species than the whole of Europe and more tree species than the whole of North America. In addition, the area is also the home to numerous indigenous communities who live isolated from the outside world.
But beneath Yasuní lies a vast reserve of crude oil, the largest in all of Ecuador. This has previously been the subject of a battle between major oil companies and protectors of the Amazon rainforest. In 2007, the then newly elected president Rafael Correa made the world the famous offer to keep 850 million barrels in the oil field in the ground in exchange for financial compensation. The plan proved short-lived, as six years later Correa gave the go-ahead for oil drilling in the valuable piece of rainforest.
Historic victory
Fighting for over 10 years young activists, YASunidos, Acción Ecológica, indigenous organizations and other action groups together with 11.11.11 against oil exploration in the Yasuní area. In 2013, they managed to collect more than 700.000 signatures from people concerned about the oil advance, enough to force a referendum according to the Ecuadorian constitution.
“Politicians tried hard to ignore that pressure from below for a long time, but in the end the Constitutional Court forced them to organize a binding referendum,” says 11.11.11-expert Freya Rondelez. “Through activism we have stopped the exploitation of people and nature by the oil industry in one of the most valuable areas on earth.”
With a majority of yes voters, oil extraction in the Yasuní area will now stop. A decision with an enormous impact on the protection of nature reserves. This means that drilling new oil wells is not only a thing of the past, but is also the existing oil production stopped and the infrastructure removed.
This is a historic victory for Ecuador and for the planet. We showed that with citizen participation we can protect the rights of nature and people.
Other mining projects also halted
Also in the region around the capital Quito, Acción Ecológica, together with many other activists, achieved an important victory. In a local referendum, residents voted to ban all types of mining in the Chocó Andino Biosphere Reserve. According to the first election results, more than 67% of voters voted to defend the ecosystem and therefore the livelihood of the local population. All mining activities must be dismantled within a year, according to regulations of the Constitutional Court.
