Ecuador: All eyes on Yasuní - Keep the oil in the ground!

To: the Constitutional Court of Ecuador

“Ecuador’s Constitutional Court must order the immediate cessation of oil production in Block 43 of the Yasuní National Park.”

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Criticism of the government report

In August 2024, the Ecuadorian government presented a report that calls for oil production in Block 43 to be phased out within five and a half years. The government wants to give itself additional time, until 2034, to dismantle the oil installations, citing financial and logistical reasons.

In doing so, the government is ignoring the clear mandate of the referendum. The long delay not only endangers the isolated Indigenous peoples and the integrity of Yasuní National Park, but also violates the democratic will of the Ecuadorian people and the protection of an ecosystem of global importance.

In May 2023, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled on the legality of the referendum and ordered that oil production must stop and the installations must be dismantled within one year. Extending the process years beyond this deadline directly violates the rights of nature and Indigenous peoples and ignores the importance of Yasuní for global climate protection. The Constitutional Court must now enforce its own ruling.

What makes Yasuní unique?

Yasuní National Park is a global treasure. It was declared a protected area in 1979 and is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. Yasuní is important not only for Ecuador, but also for the conservation of biodiversity and the fight against climate change worldwide. The Amazon rainforest plays an important role in South America’s water cycle, and its conservation has global implications.

Yasuní is home to Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation, such as the Tagaeri and Taromenane, whose survival depends on protecting their territory from oil development. Pollution from oil production in Block 43 has had a terrible impact on the health of these communities. Protecting Yasuní is not only a human rights issue, but a responsibility that the whole world must face.

Figures on biodiversity in the Yasuní (source: Si al Yasuní):

• More than 100,000 species of insects per hectare
• 94 species of ants on a single tree
• 10 species of primates
• 1,130 tree species, more than twice as many as in the whole of Europe (454 tree species)
• 81 species of bats
• 540 species of fish in a 5 km stretch of river
• 165 species of mammals
• 130 species of amphibians
• 72 species of reptiles
• About 630 species of birds

Yasuní Initiative

Rainforest Rescue has been supporting the Yasunidos and the Yasuní Initiative for almost twenty years – with petitions, publicity, donations and networking.

To: the Constitutional Court of Ecuador

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On August 20, 2023, the Ecuadorian people voted by a large majority for an immediate end to oil production in concession block 43 of the Yasuní National Park. The decision of the referendum must be respected.

We demand that your ruling – which ordered the cessation of oil extraction and the dismantling of oil installations in Block 43 of the Yasuní National Park within one year – be respected, and that the Indigenous peoples living in isolation be protected.

It is unacceptable to continue to exploit the oil reserves and to further postpone the dismantling of the production facilities. Yasuní is crucial for biodiversity and the global climate.

Please enforce the mandate of the people and protect nature!

Yours faithfully,