The Huaorani people of Ecuador are one of the tribes under threat from oil drilling. Photo / Maurio Burzio
Community/politics: Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's plan to protect part of the Amazon rainforest has failed after rich nations failed to come up with the $3.6 billion needed to render oil drilling uneconomic.
The President announced that drilling in the Yasuni region of the Amazon rainforest would go ahead as less
than one percent of its target had been raised.
In 2007, Correa set up the initiative to protect the Yasuni jungle. The area is home to some of the world's most diverse wildlife and included in the drill site is Yasuni National Park, which was made a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1989. In the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini region of Yasuni there are more species in one hectare than all the wildlife in North America. The Park is also one of the world's most diverse in terms of avian biodiversity, boasting about 600 recorded bird species.
Drilling in two areas has been authorised, although conditions have been imposed to minimise the impact on the environment and local tribes. Amongst these is the agreement to not build roads into the core of these isolated oil fields. However, PetroAmazonas have agreed to build 'ecological trails'. According to the Guardian, previous 'ecological trails' are "really just an access road with a greener name."
The drilling will also have major impacts on the inhabitants of the area, including a number of uncontacted tribes. Critics say that contact with oil company workers could decimate the populations of uncontacted tribes due to their lack of immunological defences.
