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Ecuador: pay us not to develop Amazon oil reserves mongabay.com April 27, 2007
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa says that if the country is compensated with half of the forecasted lost revenues, it will not exploit oil in Yasuni National Park, setting aside the area for wildlife and indigenous people. Correa said the cost would be about $350 million per year. "The first option is to leave that oil in the ground, but the international community would have to compensate us for immense sacrifice that a poor country like Ecuador would have to make," ENS reports Correa as saying in a recent radio address. "Ecuador doesn't ask for charity, but does ask that the international community share in the sacrifice and compensates us with at least half of what our country would receive, in recognition of the environmental benefits that would be generated by keeping this oil underground."
Oil operations in the Ecuadorian rainforest have been controversial since American oil giant Texaco (now a subsidiary of Chevron) entered the region in 1958. Environmental groups and indigenous rights' organizations said Texaco's oil exploitation caused widespread pollution and environmental damage and blames the firm for high rates of cancer among local populations. Chevron is currently facing a $6 billion lawsuit on behalf of more than 30,000 affected people. Correa's offer is seen as an "unprecedented opportunity" by some environmentalists reports ENS. "This presents a landmark opportunity to sequester up to half a billion tons of CO2 while conserving Yasuní's astounding biodiversity and cultural heritage," Max Christian of the Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology program at the University of Maryland told ENS. "If the international community is serious about mitigating climate change and impacts to ecosystems, structuring a debt-for-carbon swap here offers a very real financing possibility." Ecuador Seeks Compensation to Leave Amazon Oil Undisturbed (ENS) Related articles Fruit-eating bats ingest dirt to counter toxic plant compounds (4/23/2008) Pregnant and lactating frugivorous bats ingest dirt in order to detoxify plant compounds in the fruit they eat, report researchers writing in the journal PLoS ONE. Nature tourism taking a toll in the Galapagos (1/5/2008) A booming "ecotourism" industry is bringing new threats to the Galapagos, reports a feature in the Wall Street Journal. Rainforest destruction increasingly driven by corporate interests, not poverty (12/18/2007) Tropical deforestation is increasingly enterprise-driven rather than the result of subsistence agriculture, a trend that has critical implications for the future of the world's forests, says Dr. Thomas Rudel, a researcher from Rutgers University. As urbanization and government-sponsored development programs dwindle in the tropics, industrial logging and conversion for large-scale agriculture -- including oil palm plantations, soy farms, and cattle ranches -- are ever more important causes of forest destruction. Iguanas listen to birds to avoid predators (10/29/2007) As the world's only sea-feeding lizard, Galapagos Marine Iguanas have long held a unique place in the animal kingdom. While most of their life is spent on land, these lizards forage the seas for their staple food: algae. Now, new research has provided this species with another distinction: although the Galapagos Marine Iguana is mute, it recognizes and utilizes the alarm call of the Galapagos Mockingbird. This is the first instance of a non-vocal species eavesdropping on another species' calls. Both the iguana and mockingbird fall prey to the Galapagos hawk, so by recognizing the mockingbird's warning the iguanas gain important information on avoiding predation. WWF condemns iron fertilization scheme to fight global warming (6/28/2007) Environmental group WWF condemned a scheme by Planktos, Inc. (OTCBB: PLKT) to dump up to 100 tons of iron dust in the open ocean west of the Galapagos Islands. The firm claims the experiment will fertilize massive blooms of phytoplankton that will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help fight global warming. Comments? News options News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo! Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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