Ecuadorians usher in historic vote by rejecting oil drilling in the Amazon

Ecuadorians have voted in a historic referendum to halt the development of all new oil wells in the Yasuní national park in the Amazon.

The vote means the state oil company Petroecuador will have to end its operations in the area, which is home to isolated tribes and is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.

According to Ecuador’s National Electoral Commission, voters opted to safeguard the area by a margin of nearly 20 per cent with more than 90 per cent of the ballot counted.

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More than 58 per cent of Ecuadorians were in favour of the move and 41 per cent were against it.

The move will keep about 726 million barrels of oil underground in the Yasuní national park, which is also home to the Tagaeri and Taromenane people, two of the world’s last 'uncontacted' Indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation.

“Ecuadorians have come together for this cause to provide a life opportunity for our Indigenous brothers and sisters and also to show the entire world, amidst these challenging times of climate change, that we stand in support of the rainforest,” Nemo Guiquita, a leader of the Waorani tribe, told The Associated Press.

She continued: “It’s not that we’re going to feel relieved. We can breathe a moment of calm, we’re happy, but there are many more oil wells in Waorani territory causing harm.

“We hope that with this public consultation, there will be a path marked by the fact that the decision belongs to the people and that we can remove all those who are extracting oil and polluting our land.”

The outcome represents a significant blow to Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso who advocated for oil drilling, asserting that its revenues are crucial to the country’s economy.

Petroecuador, which currently produces almost 60,000 barrels a day in Yasuni, will be required to dismantle its operations in the coming months.

In a statement, the company said it would comply with the decision of the Ecuadorian people.

In a second referendum, citizens in Quito also voted to block gold mining in the Chocó Andino, a sensitive highland biosphere near the capital city, by an even larger margin of about 68 per cent to 31 per cent.