The Yasuni ITT Initiative

2785 Words6 Pages

In 2007, the courageously hopeful President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, announced the pioneering Yasuni ITT Initiative to the General Assembly of the United Nations ("What is the Initiative?"). It was a groundbreaking plan to save the unexploited ITT oil reserves (“What”). The initiative asked the world to donate $3.6 billion to Ecuador, in order to subsidize half of the profits the country would have gained if they opted for oil exploration (“What”). Regrettably, this visionary proposal to fight climate change recently failed in August 2013 (Associated). Ecuador only managed to collect $13 million and $116 million in pledges, which was not enough to continue this project (Associated). The Yasuni National Park, an ecological biosphere that contains two uncontacted tribes and plenty of wildlife, will slowly be destroyed by allowing oil drilling (Hill). While the drilling will boost the economy, it will strip the park of all its natural glory and disregard past exploitations of the land. The Yasuni National Park possesses very diverse rainforest which significantly impact how the ecosystem functions; yet the the processes of disturbance and succession greatly affect them ("Yasuni National Park, Ecuador", "Ecuador Yasuni ITT Trust Fund" ). Just one hectare of the park contains more species of trees and bushes than all of North America ("Foreseeable Impacts of Oil Industry Activity in Yasuní")! There are a staggering 1762 species of trees and shrubs that have been identified in Yasuni, and approximately 400 of them are inherent to the region (“Foreseeable”). Hundreds of the plants in the previously untouchable zones have not even been classified or studied in depth (“Foreseeable”). The park is also paradise to a multitude of animal... ... middle of paper ... ...d Food. "Ecuador Overview." Wfp.org. World Food Programme, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . Saavedra, Luis A. "Oil Exploitation to Reduce Poverty?" Lapress.org. Latin American Press, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. . "SOS Yasuní." SOS Yasuní. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013 "Waorani Indians March against Oil Drilling." Survival International. N.p., 15 July 2005. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. “Saving Wild Places - Latin American and the Caribbean - Yasuni National Park, Ecuador” Wildlife Conservation Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. Worldbank, "Ecuador: Poverty Report." Poverty Analysis -. Worldbank, 2011. Web. 21 Oct.2013.

Show More
Related

  • Spindletop Research Paper

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Oil impacted social change over time, which helped us grow as a society. If you took my proposal into consideration I would really appreciate it. My proposal is going to have all of the factors of Oil and how oil has change our state. After reading the documents that you have given me I was able to answer question “What story should be told”. As H.L hunt always said “money is just as way of keeping score”. - H.L

    Read More

  • Hydrologic cycle of the Panamanian rainforest and Mojave desert

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    Moeller, Karla (2013, July 24). Revealing the Rainforest. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved November 29, 2013 from http://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/rainforest

    Read More

  • Protecting the Daintree Rainforest

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    a) The Daintree rainforest at Cape Tribulation, in far north Queensland is diverse in many ways. It holds 12 of the 19 primitive plant families in the world (Cairns Today, 2007). The forest covers an area of 1100 square kilometres and is approximately eighty kilometres wide. This dense and luxuriant rainforest has the greatest diversity than any other in Australia and many in the world. The Daintree is also the home of rare and threatened of being extinct plant and animal species. The importance of this ecosystem is the very high. This ecosystem contributes to the overall health of this plant in many ways. The diversity contributes in the breakdown of pollution and helps to control the climate to name a few. This rainforest also is a great ‘carbon sink’. It has many photosynthesising plants and this allows the control of carbon dioxide (CO2). The plants take in the CO2 from the atmosphere and return oxygen (O2)

    Read More

  • Oil Exploration on Anticosti Island

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, we will look at the positive effects of extracting oil on Anticosti Island. This discovery will have a positive impact on the economy of the province of Quebec. In many cases, we can clearly see that the economy become wealthy after the extraction of petroleum. For example: “In 1997, the Canadian petroleum industry supplied about $15 billion worth of crude oil, natural gases, natural gas liquids and refined oil products to meet our domestic energy and petrochemical needs. Without the industry, we would have had spend at least this much on imported supplies. In addition, we received $25 billion in revenues for petroleum exports in 1997.This $40-billion boost to the economy turned a potential $16-billion trade deficit into a $24-billion trade surplus” (Bott, 1999, p. 89). There is another example of a wealthy economy during the oil explorati...

    Read More

  • The Kyrgyz People of the Afghanistan Pamir

    1995 Words  | 4 Pages

    As we have come to know, the Huaorani people are among the fiercest hunting and gathering tribal people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. For a time they lived in complete isolation up until the 1950s when Evangelical Christian missionaries sought to convert them to Christianity. Since then, they have become an endangered people as the Christian missionaries had opened the gate to other forms of Western exploitation such as the crude oil company threatening their way of life. Most Huaorani say that they regret the day they have even come in contact with the Christians as many Huaoranis have contracted certain diseases that they are not immune to such as polio. The development of cancer is another major disease that has been brought on by the constant polluted air and water from the oil spills and crude exhaust from the oil companies. With the ongoing threat of Western development tarnishing their way of life, the Huaorani people continue to struggle for survival.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Pipelines

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    "This war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land from us without price.". This is a quote said by Lakota Tribal chief, Spotted Tail. Regarding the treaty that agreed a promise between the White men and the Native Americans, stating that they would have the right to their land. Although, overtime this treaty was broken by the government. As of today, history repeats itself as the Native Americans fight for their land and water. Dakota Access Pipeline plans to build a new pipeline that will ship over 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Moreover, pipelines and the oil itself, are known to be dangerous to the environment are factors to Global Warming. Be that as it may, the US Army Corps approved this

    Read More

  • Huaorani Case

    2240 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Huaorani is an Indian tribe in Ecuador whose livelihood and culture was threatened by corporate companies exploring for oil. These oil companies invaded Oriente with the support of the national government, leading to destruction of the environment that served the way of livelihood for the Huaorani. Different human right and environmental organizations tried to find a solution for the situation but were not conversant with the natives needs. In contrast, their actions only misrepresented the Indians’ interests and placed them in more difficult situations. The Huaorani have to get involved in the fight for their land, but there are still those among them who betray their course. The most unusual

    Read More

  • Opponents to Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The conversation of our natural resources and their proper use underlines almost every other problem in our national life,” Theodore Roosevelt. Americans’ dependence upon petroleum-based energy sources has required the United States to consider a variety of options to fulfill [the] ever-increasing energy needs, even drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR] (Smith). The controversial question on whether or not to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reserve has been in battle since its establishment. Drilling in ANWR would cause severe damage as it is a danger to its native plants and animals as the land is their home and birthing ground, the land discussed to be open to drilling will not be the only land set to a path of destruction, and along with the use and distribution of the oil found, as of how much could be discovered and if it is worth losing precious land all to a nations greed of oil.

    Read More

  • Biofuel and The Racing Industry

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    FAO: State of the World's Forests. Rome: Food and Agriculture Office of the United Nations; 2007. Print.

    Read More

  • The Hazards of Ocean Pollution

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1995, an important event marked a victory for the national GreenPeace organization, and for humans alike. The Brent Spar oil installation was not allowed to be dumped into the ocean. The importance of this decision lied in the fact that there were over 600 oil installations that would someday expire just as the Brent Spar had. When the decision was made to not allow the dumping, it set a precident that the other installations would not be allowed to be dumped, either.

    Read More

  • The Venezuelan Crisis: Protest, Shortages, and Violence

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hugo Chavez was a powerful and positive force in addressing social issues, however, his singular focus on social issues at the expense of other matters of the country left the Venezuelan economy in tatters. In 1998, 50.4% of the Venezuelan population was living below the poverty line, where as in 2006 the numbers dropped to 36.3% (Chavez leaves). Although he aggressively confronted the issue of poverty in Venezuela, many other problems were worsened. Some Chavez critics say he used the state oil company like a piggy bank for projects: funding homes, and healthcare while neglecting oil infrastructure and production. Without growth in the oil ind...

    Read More

  • We Must Save the Rainforests

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.

    Read More

  • Destruction of the Amazon Rainforest

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    The destruction of this forest releases 340 million tons of carbon per year according to the World Wildlife Foundation, or WWF, which in turn causes climate changes everywhere around the world. Undiscovered species can hold the key to curing a plethora of diseases, but if those species become extinct, those keys are lost forever. If nothing is done to prevent this, the world’s treasure trove of bio-diversity will cease to exist, creating irreversible damage to not only the South American people, but also the rest of the world. Conversion of the tropical forest into cropland and pasture began a long time ago in Ecuador, before its secession from Spain. Their major crop was cocoa, which was grown along the waterways to be exported as their main source of trade.

    Read More

  • The Life and Climate of a Tropical Rainforest

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tropical rainforests have many species of plants and animals. They are very interesting and many scientists today study it. Rainforests are an important part of our environment and it is important for us to protect it. That’s why we have to stop global warming.

    Read More

  • Social Protection in Developing Countries

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... of revenue collection of the machinery of redistribution, important though these are. An optimal financing mix should do three jobs well: (i) generate the resources needed to establish and strengthen appropriate social protection systems; (ii) ensure that the incentives generated by the financing modalities reduce child poverty and child vulnerability; and (iii) secure legitimacy for social protection institutions and policies. Section three examines the main issues involved in financing social protection in low income countries, beginning with a discussion of trends in sub-Saharan Africa, and the issues raised by the current global crisis; followed by a discussion of alternative policy strategies adopted in three Latin American countries: the use of natural resources in Bolivia; budgetary surplus policies in Chile, and borrowing in Mexico. Section four concludes.

    Read More

More about The Yasuni ITT Initiative

Open Document