CNN —Ecuadorians have voted to ban oil drilling in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the Yasuní National Park, situated in the Amazon rainforest.
The Yasuní National Park park spans around 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) at the meeting point of the Amazon, the Andes and the Equator.
In 2016, the Ecuadorian state oil company began drilling in Block 43 – around 0.01% of the National Park – which today produces more than 55,000 barrels a day, amounting to around 12% of Ecuador’s oil production.
Yasunidos, an environmental collective, has been pushing for the vote to ban drilling in the park for a decade.
“This referendum presents a huge opportunity for us to create change in a tangible way,” Helena Gualinga, an Indigenous rights advocate from a remote village in the Ecuadorian Amazon, told CNN.
Persons:
CNN — Ecuadorians, Rafael Correa, Fernando Santos, ” Santos, ” Helena Gualinga, Yasunidos, Mitch Anderson, Fernando L, Ecuadorians, ”, Luisa González, Daniel Noboa
Organizations:
CNN, Electoral, Movimiento Revolución
Locations:
Ecuador, Europe, North America, Ecuadorian