Ecuador Signs $3.6 billion Deal to Stay Out of Amazonian Park

San Rafael Falls on the Quijos River in Yasuni National Park 
- click to enlarge -

How much would you pay for the most biologically rich ecosystem on the planet? Over a billion dollars? At least.

I was truly astonished today to learn that the Ecuadorian government has signed a 3.6 billion dollar deal, brokered by the United Nations, to not plunder a major part of the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha oil block in the Yasuni national park – some 675 sq miles of pristine rainforest. The pioneering deal will see a legally binding trust fund set up by wealthy countries that will partially compensate the South American country for the “forfeiting” of an estimated $7 billion profit that could be made from the extraction of crude oil and other natural resources in the area. Under the terms of the agreement the oil and the timber in Yasuni will never be exploited. [source]

Conservation groups have been staggered by the biological riches in the park, which is situated at the intersection of the Amazon, the Andes and the equator. It was recently found to have 650 species of tree and shrub within a single hectare – the highest number in the world and more than in the whole of North America. In addition, it has more than 20 threatened mammal species, including, jaguars, otters and monkeys, and several hundred bird species. [source]

The idea of rich countries paying poor countries not to exploit their forests in return for financial compensation is being promoted at the global climate talks which reconvened this week in Bonn, Germany. But the idea of paying poor countries not to develop valuable oil reserves is believed to be the most radical and most forward-looking yet.

Helga Serrano, a representative from the Ecuadorean foreign ministry made the following comments yesterday in Bonn:

"The object is to preserve biodiversity and prevent climate change emissions. Ecuador is an oil-exporting country and the oil reserves in Yasuni have been shown to represent 20% of the oil in the whole country. We will keep the oil underground indefinitely. We think $3.6bn is a fair contribution from developed countries.” [source]

While some conservation groups hailed the establishment of the UN trust fund for Yasuni as "historic", yesterday the CONAIE umbrella indigenous organization warned that the UN-brokered deal was not the end of the fight. "We don't want Correa to offset his lost income from leaving the ITT oil in the ground by opening up other areas of equally pristine indigenous lands," the group's leader, Marlon Santi, told reporters. [source]

Human rights groups are also criticizing the Ecuadorean government for using the conservation initiative to mask plans to open up other parts of the Amazon to oil development, and to re-open old oil blocks that had been closed because of resistance by indigenous people. [source]

In response, Daniel Ortega, an environment and climate change ministry spokesman said:

“We are seeking nothing less than a new paradigm for development. This is what the majority of people in Ecuador want. Yasuni will remain protected through generations." [source]

Any money raised would be administered by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and would go to protect 4.8m hectares of land in Ecuador's other national parks – including the Galapagos Islands – and to develop renewable energy sources and build schools and hospitals for indigenous groups.

So far, only European countries have shown a firm interest in contributing to the fund. Germany has said it may pay $800m over 13 years, with Spain, France and Switzerland reportedly seriously considering the offer - and Guatemala and Nigeria are reported to be asking Ecuador for help setting up similar programmes.

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Ecuador Agrees to Keep Amazon Eco-Treasure Free of Oil Drilling