Ecuador’s historic vote to halt oil exploitation in Yasuní National Park, one of the planet’s most biodiverse areas, is under threat as the government looks to renege on the result of the 20 August referendum.
A clear majority of the population – nearly 59% – voted ‘yes to Yasuní’, choosing to protect the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador from fossil fuel drilling and leave the park’s oil reserves underground indefinitely. The result was a huge victory for environmental activists seeking to usher in a post-oil economy.
But both the outgoing president, Guillermo Lasso, and the frontrunner to win the presidential run-off in October, Luisa González, look set to disregard the referendum’s result.
