Ecuador: All eyes on Yasuní - Keep the oil in the ground!

Forest and river in Yasuní National Park Yasuní National Park, Ecuador (© Pedro Bermeo) View of a river surrounded by forest, Yasuní National Park Yasuní National Park (© Pedro Bermeo/Yasunidos) A large group of young people at the National Electoral Commission of Ecuador in Quito in 2014, delivering 757,000 signatures calling for a referendum on Yasuní National Park. Delivery of the signatures collected for the Yasuní referendum in 2014, the culmination of a 10-year struggle. (© Yasunidos) A group of people hold up a banner reading “Yes to Yasuní Manabí” People across Ecuador support the campaign to protect Yasuní National Park from the oil industry (© Yasunidos) Infrastructure for oil extraction in Yasuní National Park Oil drilling in Yasuní (© Yasunidos) Gas flaring, pipelines and oil ponds in the rainforest Oil industry gas flaring in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador (© Klaus Schenck)

One year ago, the Ecuadorian people voted to leave oil in the ground forever in the Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest. But the government has been dragging its feet for years to delay the end of oil production. Please call on the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court to enforce the results of the referendum.

Call to action

To: the Constitutional Court of Ecuador

“Ecuador’s Constitutional Court must order the immediate cessation of oil production in Block 43 of the Yasuní National Park.”

Read letter

In August 2023, the people of Ecuador voted in a unique referendum to stop oil production in part of the Yasuní National Park. With 59 percent voting against the fossil fuel industry, they gave the government and the relevant authorities a clear mandate. According to the will of the voters, the oil in concession block 43 must remain in the ground forever. 

Nature in Yasuní, one of the most biodiverse places on earth, and the Indigenous people who live there in isolation, must be protected. The importance of Yasuní is not limited to Ecuador – its biodiversity is a global asset. It is home to countless unique species of plants and animals, many of which have yet to be scientifically described.

Yasuní is also vital to global climate protection. The rainforest stores vast amounts of carbon and helps regulate Earth’s climate. Its protection is not only a commitment to the rights of nature and Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, but a responsibility that affects us all.

In May 2023, the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court recognized the legality of the referendum and ordered that oil extraction be stopped immediately and that oil installations be dismantled within a year.

However, the government has not complied and is now proposing to produce oil for another five and a half years and not dismantle the installations for another ten years, citing short-term economic effects.

The government’s proposal is unacceptable because it violates the clear mandate of the people and the constitution. We call on the Constitutional Court to enforce the binding decision. Please sign our petition and add your voice.

Back­ground

Criticism of the government report

In August 2024, the Ecuadorian government presented a report that calls for oil production in Block 43 to be phased out within five and a half years. The government wants to give itself additional time, until 2034, to dismantle the oil installations, citing financial and logistical reasons.

 

In doing so, the government is ignoring the clear mandate of the referendum. The long delay not only endangers the isolated Indigenous peoples and the integrity of Yasuní National Park, but also violates the democratic will of the Ecuadorian people and the protection of an ecosystem of global importance.

In May 2023, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled on the legality of the referendum and ordered that oil production must stop and the installations must be dismantled within one year. Extending the process years beyond this deadline directly violates the rights of nature and Indigenous peoples and ignores the importance of Yasuní for global climate protection. The Constitutional Court must now enforce its own ruling.

What makes Yasuní unique?

Yasuní National Park is a global treasure. It was declared a protected area in 1979 and is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. Yasuní is important not only for Ecuador, but also for the conservation of biodiversity and the fight against climate change worldwide. The Amazon rainforest plays an important role in South America’s water cycle, and its conservation has global implications.

 

Yasuní is home to Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation, such as the Tagaeri and Taromenane, whose survival depends on protecting their territory from oil development. Pollution from oil production in Block 43 has had a terrible impact on the health of these communities. Protecting Yasuní is not only a human rights issue, but a responsibility that the whole world must face.

Figures on biodiversity in the Yasuní (source: Si al Yasuní):

  • More than 100,000 species of insects per hectare
  • 94 species of ants on a single tree
  • 10 species of primates
  • 1,130 tree species, more than twice as many as in the whole of Europe (454 tree species)
  • 81 species of bats
  • 540 species of fish in a 5 km stretch of river
  • 165 species of mammals
  • 130 species of amphibians
  • 72 species of reptiles
  • About 630 species of birds

Yasuní Initiative

Rainforest Rescue has been supporting the Yasunidos and the Yasuní Initiative for almost twenty years – with petitions, publicity, donations and networking.

Letter

To: the Constitutional Court of Ecuador

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On August 20, 2023, the Ecuadorian people voted by a large majority for an immediate end to oil production in concession block 43 of the Yasuní National Park. The decision of the referendum must be respected.

We demand that your ruling – which ordered the cessation of oil extraction and the dismantling of oil installations in Block 43 of the Yasuní National Park within one year – be respected, and that the Indigenous peoples living in isolation be protected.

It is unacceptable to continue to exploit the oil reserves and to further postpone the dismantling of the production facilities. Yasuní is crucial for biodiversity and the global climate.

Please enforce the mandate of the people and protect nature!

Yours faithfully,

Footnotes

concession block 43

Concession Block 43, also called ITT, includes three oil fields: Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (hence the abbreviation ITT) and a total area of around 162,000 hectares, of which 78,000 hectares are within the Yasuní National Park.



source: Si al Yasuní

Si al Yasuni, no date. ¿Qué es el Yasuní?: https://sialyasuni.com/en/facts-about-yasuni/


petitions

Rainforest Rescue, December 28, 2015. Stop oil drilling in Ecuador's Yasuní National Park! https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1026/stop-oil-drilling-in-ecuadors-yasuni-national-park


publicity

Rainforest Rescue, August 24, 2023. Ecuador: Referendum halts oil drilling in Yasuní National Park: https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/updates/11693/ecuador-referendum-halts-oil-drilling-in-yasuni-national-park

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