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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Yasuni Park Trust Fund Will Keep Ecuador's Oil Underground
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| UNDP Administrator Helen Clark announces the Yasuni Trust Fund. December 16, 2009 (Photo courtesy UNDP) | |
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, December 21, 2009 (ENS) - Ecuador's initiative to protect the climate and the rainforest of Yasuni National Park by leaving its largest oil reserve in the ground will be supported by a new multi-donor trust fund to offset lost oil revenue, Ecuadorian and United Nations officials announced last week in Copenhagen.Ecuador's Foreign Minister Fander Falconi and Minister of Natural and Cultural Heritage Marie Ferdinand Espinosa, launched the new trust fund together with Helen Clark, the former New Zealand prime minister, who now serves as administrator of the UN Development Programme.
"Yasuni National Park is a fantastic project and a big contribution to save our climate," said Clark at a news conference in Copenhagen announcing the UNDP cooperation with the Government of Ecuador.
The Yasuni Trust Fund will be managed by the UN Development Programme. It will focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions by permanently foregoing extraction of fossil fuels from the park; developing alternative energy; protecting indigenous groups; and reducing poverty and inequality through sustainable social development.
In exchange for keeping the crude oil in the ground in the Ishpingo, Tampococha, Tiputini (ITT) region, the Ecuadorian government has asked for compensation of $350 million a year for 10 years.
The Yasuni-ITT initiative was proposed in 2007 and has been met with widespread international interest, inspiring the government to extend the deadline for the initial $350 million down payment until December.
The initiative aims to prevent the extraction of an estimated 850 million barrels of crude oil in the ground beneath the park. This would prevent the release of 407 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide and would also protect the indigenous peoples and unique plants and animals that inhabit the park.
The park is designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and is home to indigenous peoples who live in voluntary isolation to protect their way of life. Read more at Environmental News Service
