Yasuni-ITT on the agenda, high biodiversity

Ecuador’s project to leave one of the most diverse regions in the world free from oil drilling seems to have started taking shape three years after president Rafael Correa announced it. With the Rio +20 in mind, the Yasuní - Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (Yasuni-ITT) proposal, which asks the international community to pay half of what the country would get by extracting oil from the Yasuni reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon, was discussed at a Treaty for Amazon Cooperation Organization (OCTA) meeting, last week in Brasilia.

The German parliament also put the Yasuni-ITT on the agenda of a meeting scheduled for today (24). The country was originally one of the main partners in the initiative, but backed out from donating 50 million dollars a year in July last year. The willingness to resume the issue brings hope. Add to this the statement by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last September. "I encourage you to leave here with this message: sustainable development is possible, it only takes leadership, creativity and commitment."

So far the fund has raised more than 1.8 million dollars in donations from Chile, Spain, foundations and individuals. Italy has pledged to donate 50 million and other sources another 4 million. The goal is to reach 100 million by the end of the year. Otherwise, the drilling may be given way. "Undoubtedly, this initiative has the necessary technical elements to be successful. If oil exploration is realized, it will cause impacts on the environment and the people who live there. This will depend largely on how the operation is made - if there will be construction of roads, how would be the transport of oil, where it would be processed, among other things", says Veronica Quitigüiña of Finding Species.

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The study proves that the area is the richest in the Western Hemisphere in terms of mammals, amphibians, birds and plants. 655 tree species were found in a single hectare - area where you can also find more than 100 thousand kinds of insects. 271 species of reptiles and amphibians exist in the region, the largest number ever found in one place. "This little place in the Amazon not only reaches peak diversity of plants, but also in the other three main biological groups. It deserves to be a global priority for conservation", said Clinton Jenkins, coordinator of the map and researcher at the University of North Carolina, USA.

"The Yasuní is hypnotizing. It may be that other regions are of similar wealth, but we have to conclude that there is where the greatest diversity is", adds scientist Christian Voigth, from the Leibniz Institute for Wildlife Research, in Germany, who for 15 years has been researching the Yasuní. He argues that the area should be kept intact for pure economic reasons, citing carbon sequestration and how the biodiversity could help in drugs manufacturing. "We need to think about humanity," he says.

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