Ecuador seeks compensation for not exploiting oil deposits in national park

The Ecuadorian Government plans to promote an environmental project in the Yasuni National Park which had previosuly been designated for oil exploitation.

Seen as a flagship project for this Andean nation, the intention is to avoid releasing the equivalent of 400 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in return for economic compensation from the international carbon market. The Vice President, Lenin Moreno, expects to present this project to the United Nations Assembly on September 27th.

The deposits known to exist under the surface of the Yasuni National Park are believed to represent around 846 million barrels of oil; and the Ecuadorian government hope to receive compensation of around half the predicted value of this amount, which they put at US$3,600 million.

Established as a National park in 1979 and as a UN Biosphere Reserve ten years later, the Yasuni National Park is home to non-contacted indigenous communities and is considered among the most biodiverse areas on the planet. It extends to almost a million hectares in the headwaters of the Rio Napo which drain into the Amazon via Northern Peru.

According to Latin American press, several countries area interested in assisting this initiative, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Chile and Japan.

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