The future of the Yasuní initiative without definition

Yesterday marked six years since  the Yasuní-ITT initiative was presented in order to maintain underground the 850 million barrels of oil that remain in the bowels of this natural paradise, which has not only been declared as world heritage site, but is also considered as the place of greatest biodiversity in the Western Hemisphere, by the global scientific community.

The President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, will be in charge of deciding to continue with the initiative, the non-extraction, which has  the acceptance of 85% of Ecuadorians and still have international support , or to carry out the Plan B (oil extraction).

Untill now, the viability of the project remains a mystery; the only thing certain is that the trust fund, managed by The UN, registered only  $7.8 million in deposits until last may 17, despite the fact that the commitment was 50.6 million.

Researcher Eduardo Pichilingue, indicated that 12% of the biosphere reserve of the Yasuni, representing, the ITT is of great  importance, since it is the area with greater concentration of fresh water of the region and is not less diverse than the block 31 which is to exploit, according to the decision taken by the Head of State.

In the subsoil of the Yasuni National Park, there are, not only,  barrels of heavy oil, which are part of the ITT block, also live the  two  indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation of  Ecuador, Tagaeri and Taromename.

The decision taken by Correa will be crucial, since not only is at stake the survival of this reserve but the effective conservation and the avoidance of deforestation in the 40 protected areas and the proper management  of 5 million hectares of natural areas under the ownership of indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian communities.