Click to expand Image Members of the Waorani Indigenous community demonstrate for peace, for nature and to promote a Yes vote in a referendum to end oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park, Ecuador, August 14, 2023. 2023 Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images The people of Ecuador voted on Sunday to halt all current and future oil drilling in the heart of Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest. This comes after decades of organizing led by a coalition of Indigenous peoples, youth, and activists from across the country. Voters also chose to ban all mining in the Choco Andino forest, near the country's capital, Quito. The vote to "keep the oil in the soil" is a historic move: it means that an estimated 1.67 billion barrels of crude oil will remain in the ground, implementing a moratorium on current and future drilling in the Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini (ITT) area of Yasuni National Park, one of the most intact sections remaining in the Amazon River Basin. It
The people of Ecuador voted on Sunday to halt all current and future oil drilling in the heart of Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest. This comes after decades of organizing led by a coalition of Indigenous peoples, youth, and activists from across the country.