Ecuadorians spoke at the polls in favor of the protection of two areas of biosphere reserves. The Yes to prohibit artisanal, small, medium and large-scale mining in the Choco Andino, located in western Ecuador, was imposed with 68%, in a resounding victory against 31% who voted No. And in the east Amazon, specifically in block 43 of the Yasuni National Park, the Yes option to stop oil exploitation won. Environmentalists celebrate and economic groups reproach the position.
The Yasuni vote, which gives state oil company Petroecuador one year to shut down production at block 43-ITT, will result in the loss of about 12% of Ecuador’s 480,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil production. .
Petroecuador affirmed, prior to the popular consultations, that the victory of the Yes to the oil ban would cost Ecuador 13.8 billion dollars in revenues over the next two decades. And according to the Central Bank, the ban in Yasuni will lead to a 1.9% reduction in projected economic growth between this year and 2026.
But from an environmental perspective, the indigenous leaders and inhabitants of the communities where the popular consultations were held celebrate the victory and hope that the results will help protect the Yasuni National Park and the Choco Andino.
Both places were declared biosphere reserves due to their richness in biodiversity and their contribution to carbon dioxide retention. A single hectare of Yasuni, for example, has 650 species of trees; as well as hundreds of species of animals, according to the Ministry of the Environment.
What implications do these results have for both the economy and environmental protection of Ecuador? We open the debate with our guests.
– Fernando Cortes Vivanco, ecologist and co-founder of Tandari, Youth Assembly for Sustainability of Ecuador.
– Nelson Baldeon, energy consultant, former manager of foreign trade for the state-owned Petroecuador and former presidential adviser for the Yasuni-ITT initiative.
Source: France 24
