In Ecuador’s Yasuni 6,500 square mile national park, part of the Amazonian rainforest one hectare of the area is home to a richer mix of trees, birds, amphibians, and reptiles than the US and Canada put together. It is a Unesco site. It is home to two uncontacted tribes.
Drilling for oil is to go ahead. Permits allow Petroamazonas, a subsidary of the state oil company, to begin construction of access roads and camps to prepare for drilling. Esperanza Martinez, an environmental activist in Ecuador, was quoted in a leading national daily as saying Petroamazonas had a bad record on oil spills and it could not be trusted to drill safely in the Yasuni.
Last August, Ecuador’s leader Rafeal Correa scrapped the Yasuni Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) initiative, which would have kept the oil under the ground in return for donations from the international community. He said only $13m (£8m) of the $3.6bn goal had been given, and that "the world has failed us", giving the green light to drilling.
From here
No comments:
Post a Comment