August 22, 2023

Ecuador's vote against oil drilling is a triumph for the Amazon

topic:	Conservation
located:	Ecuador
editor:	Ellen Nemitz

Last Sunday, August 20, millions of Ecuadorians headed to the ballots. Besides electing a new president after Guillermo Lasso dissolved Congress, voters also elected representatives for legislative houses. Additionally, they voted on whether to protect certain areas from oil exploitation and mining activities.

Those living in the capital of Quito decided the fate of Chocó Andino, a biodiversity hotspot, and all Ecuadorians were eligible to vote on the Amazon's Yasuní National Park, declared a biosphere reserve by Unesco in 1989. The 1,682,000 hectares host some of the planet's most biodiverse land per square metre, including endemic species, endangered fauna and isolated indigenous populations.

The land is home to Block 43, a large oil reserve notorious for drilling activities that jeopardise the surrounding environment. But the election results bring fresh hope for the region's biodiversity.

As of the morning of August 21, with more than 93 per cent of ballots counted, almost 60 per cent of voters answered yes when asked: do you agree that the Ecuadorian government should keep the ITT oil fields, known as Block 43, in the ground indefinitely? 

The civil society organisation YASunidos, a gathering of people protecting the National Park's conservation, has been denouncing the risks and leaking government documents to expose the extent of the exploitation. 

YASunidos naturally celebrated the historic results: "This consultation, born from the citizens, demonstrates the greatest national consensus in Ecuador. It is the first time a country has decided to defend life and leave oil in the ground. It is a historic victory for Ecuador and for the planet!" 

Similarly, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon highlighted that saying no to oil exploitation in the Amazon is "a giant step towards protecting life, biodiversity and indigenous peoples." 

The mining vote resulted in another win for the environment. Nearly 68 per cent of voters favoured the prohibition of mining on any scale (artisan, small, mid and large) in Chocó Andino, a region that was also declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2018.

Spanning 286,805 hectares, Chocó Andino encompasses two critical ecoregions of humid, moist forest and the Northern Andean Mountain Forests, according to UNESCO.

The organisation Quito sin Minería (Quito without Mining) notes there are 12 active mining licenses and another six in the pipeline.

The downside of the ban is that it only applies to new mining projects, leaving existing ones untouched. Nonetheless, it represents a significant measure to protect the biodiversity of these precious areas. Ecuador's victory in this election is a triumph for nature and the planet.

Image by Azzedine Rouichi.

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