22/8/2023
Journal Entry 6

On tenterhooks for weeks waiting for the results of the referendum in Ecuador, I nearly burst when driving to work the results were revealed on, of all things, tripleJJJ news on my car radio!

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"On August 20th, Ecuadorian voters took to the polls to choose their next president, and participate in a crucial referendum over the fate of the Yasuni forests. The results were historic: nearly 60% of Ecuadorian voters voted to keep over 726 million barrels of oil underground in the Yasuní National Park region of the Amazon, known as the most biodiverse region on the planet. 

What does this vote mean? Oil drilling in Yasuni will be prohibited from now onwards, and Ecuador’s state oil company will need to dismantle infrastructure – including 12 oil platforms and 225 wells – that it has set up over the last decades. The oil will have to stay in the soil."

 

"The Yes to Yasuni campaign was led by young Ecuadorian activists and Indigenous organizations, grassroots movements that have been at the forefront of historic climate and Indigenous rights victories over the last decade. Between 2018 and 2022, A’i Cofan communities in Sinangoe won historic lawsuits which blocked dozens of gold mining licenses issued by the Ecuadorian government, and guaranteed the rights of Indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent. In 2019, Waorani communities won another landmark legal victory, protecting half a million acres of their territory, and overturning the government’s plan to drill oil on their lands. Now, Indigenous and youth movements secured a nationwide vote changing the course of history for climate politics. On the same day as the Yasuni referendum, residents in Quito – the national capital – also voted to block gold mining in the biodiverse highland area known as the Chocó Andino. Ecuador is a center of innovative and effective climate politics, unique in the region and world, sending a loud and clear message to governments and corporations: there are limits to resource extraction."

 

 

YES to keeping the ITT oil under the ground.

YES to halting gold mining activity in the Chocó Andino de Pichincha.

YES to Pachamama!!!

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Thank you Ecuador for showing the way. Working within our manmade system to give back to Mother Nature. By giving this decision to the people to decide whether to keep Amazon oil in the ground you have proved that we, the people, are rising in terms of common sense decisions to care for our Earth.

The threats and devices of poverty have been overturned in this momentous decision.

True abundance for all has been recognised.

Fresh air and clean water have been prioritised!

Big hugs to everyone feeling these wild moments that are our lifetime !!!