Ecuador votes to stop oil drilling in Amazon national park

Quito — Ecuadorean referendums to ban oil drilling in a part of the Amazon and mining in a forest outside Quito easily passed, drawing cheers on Monday from indigenous leaders and environmentalists despite warnings from oil and mining groups about billions in lost income.

A ban on oil development in part of the Yasuni Amazon reserve passed with just under 59% approval, with nearly all votes counted. A ban on mining in the Choco Andino forest near Quito has 68% support.

The Yasuni vote — which gives state oil company Petroecuador a year to shutter production in the 43-ITT block — is set to result in the loss of about 12% of Ecuador’s 480,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) crude oil output.

Petroecuador did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has said a "yes" would cost Ecuador $13.8bn in income over the next two decades.

The Yasuni ban will lead to a 1.9% reduction in projected economic growth between this year and 2026, the central bank predicted last week.

Two other Petroecuador blocks in the area are unaffected.

"We have saved their territory, their lives," Leonidas Iza, head of major Indigenous group CONAIE, said in a press release from London-based advocacy group Survival International, referring to uncontacted Tagaeri, Taromenane and Dugakaeri communities.

"This is a major victory for Ecuador’s indigenous movement," said Survival's Sarah Shenker. "Their territories are the best barrier to deforestation."

Referendum was hailed elsewhere as good example of climate democracy in action.

The victory sends a message to investors "including major US banks and asset managers, that the era of unchecked resource extraction is at an end," said Kevin Koenig, of advocacy group Amazon Watch.

A single hectare of the Yasuni has 650 species of trees, as well as hundreds of species of animals, according to the environment ministry.

Both oil and mining guilds have said their industries are needed to shore up the battered economy and that bans would expose the areas to illegal mining and deforestation.

The local Quito referendum will scupper six gold concessions.

Ecuador’s Chamber of Mining has said opposition to mining nationwide is blocking about $1bn in potential investment for the next two years.

Mining was the country’s fourth-largest source of income last year, behind sales of oil, bananas and shrimp, bringing in $2.8bn.

Reuters