QUITO: Ecuadoreans have voted to stop an oil drilling project in an Amazon reserve, according to the results on Monday of a referendum hailed as a historic example of climate democracy.

The “Yes” vote to halt exploitation of an oil block in the Yasuni National Park, one of the most diverse biospheres in the world, won by 59 per cent, with 98pc of votes tallied.

“Today Ecuador takes a giant step to protect life, biodiversity, and indigenous people,” the country’s two main indigenous organizations, Confeniae and Conaie, posted on social media.

After years of demands for a referendum, the country’s highest court authorised the vote in May to decide the fate of “block 43,” which contributes 12pc of the 466,000 barrels of oil per day produced by Ecuador.

The block is situated in a reserve which stretches over one million hectares and is home to three of the world’s last uncontacted Indigenous populations and a bounty of plant and animal species.

Drilling began in 2016 after years of fraught debate and failed efforts by then president Rafael Correa to persuade the international community to pay cash-strapped Ecuador $3.6 billion not to drill there.

The government of outgoing President Guillermo Lasso has estimated a loss of $16 billion over the next 20 years if drilling is halted.

The reserve is home to the Waorani and Kichwa tribes, as well as the Tagaeri, Taromenane and Dugakaeri, who choose to live isolated from the modern world.

National oil company Petroecuador had permission to exploit 300 hectares, but says it is only using 80 hectares.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2023