The exploitation of the Yasuní Park Angel Maria Rañales Pérez In 1979, this protected area was created in Ecuador due to its high value of environmental biodiversity. However, this natural jewel

The exploitation of the Yasuní Park

Angel Maria Rañales Pérez

In 1979, this protected area was created in Ecuador due to its high value of environmental biodiversity. However, this natural jewel in the middle of the Amazon competes with the economic interests of companies dedicated to the massive extraction of oil. Since the 1980s, extractive plants were installed, which later in 2013 were extended to the so-called Block 31 and ITT, two areas equipped with extraction machinery that officially help to overcome the country’s economic deficit. The maximum territory allowed by Ecuadorian law for deforestation in Yasuní Park was initially 300 hectares; But in 2019 there are already more than 417 hectares deforested, which puts the health and future of nature in this great global lung at high risk. The technical analysis of the consequences of companies such as Petroamazonas in the region has been prepared by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon (MAAP) project of the Amazon Conservation Association and ACCA Conservación Amazónica. In collaboration they have designed a map that shows oil deforestation through satellite images.

One piece of data that serves as proof of the magnitude of this destruction caused by man is that a single hectare of forest in Yasuní is home to around 100,000 species of organisms, of which 90% are small species of the arthropod group. Knowing the total impacts of the oil industry in the Yasuní Park can take from 70 to 100 years because the alterations to the natural environment are not measurable in the short term. Despite being an internationally recognized problem, with the passage of time the extraction docks increase their number and the animals, species and indigenous people of Yasuní are witnesses of the passage of ships that transport large tonnage trucks to be refilled and then commercialized. The company with the greatest potential in Yasuní is Petroamazonas, which curiously sells an environmentally conscious policy called “Nuestro Hogar” aimed at controlling and improving the environmental health of the forests in which its oil plants are installed.

Why was the park created?

Do you think deforestation is justified to overcome the country’s economic deficit?

With whom did Petroamazonas collaborate in the region?

How do you help the environment in your community?

Do you think that humanity is nature’s greatest enemy? Why?