Yasuní National Park

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Yasuní National Park
Yasuní National Park (Ecuador)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 1 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  S , 76 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  W.
Location: Napo , Pastaza , Ecuador
Surface: 10,227 km²
Founding: July 26th , 1979
Location in Ecuador
Location in Ecuador
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The Yasuní National Park ( Spanish Parque Nacional Yasuní ) is the largest national park in Ecuador with an area of ​​10,227.37 km² and a core area of ​​approx. 5000 km². The national park is located between the Río Napo and Curaray rivers in the provinces of Orellana and Pastaza , 250 km from Quito . The Río Yasuní, a tributary of the Napo, belongs to the national park. The park was designated by the Ecuadorian government in 1979. In 1989 the national park, the adjacent 7580 km² Indian reservation and other surrounding areas on a total area of ​​23,661.8 km² were declared a Yasuní Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO .

According to the definition of the WWF ecoregions , the entire area belongs to the Napo wet forests , which extend with a total area of ​​250,000 km² from southwest Colombia over the Amazon lowlands of Ecuador to the northwest lowlands of Peru.

The climate is characterized all year round by high temperatures averaging 24 to 27 ° C and, compared to the rest of the Amazon (~ 2400 mm), has significantly higher annual rainfall of ~ 3200 mm and a relatively high humidity of 80 to 94% on average.

The Yasuní Protected Areas are of global importance for nature conservation . Due to its largely unaffected wilderness and the intact diversity of higher vertebrates in a region that otherwise lacks strict protected areas, the park attracted the interest of numerous researchers and nature conservation NGOs. This also includes the consequences of climate change on this region of the Amazon region .

Despite the enlargement of the protected areas, state interests in oil production in the region continued from the beginning . As early as 1990, part of the park was rededicated and added to the new Indian reservation. In this way, the American Maxus Group was enabled to produce oil. In connection with oil production, the area received worldwide attention through the (failed) Yasuní-ITT initiative of 2007, in which Ecuador proposed to stop exploitation in return for compensation payments. Oil and its negative impact on the environment and local communities continues to threaten the region.

The Yasuní region has been the residential area of ​​the Huaorani Indians since time immemorial , who have unlimited rights of use to the national park. A few of their settlements are in the park boundaries (near the “Vía Maxus” oil road). Despite a significant cultural change since the 1960s, they mainly use the land as hunters and gatherers and for traditional plant cultivation . This is especially true for at least two isolated groups of the Huaorani who roam the park and avoid any contact with the outside world.

Due in particular to the interests of the oil companies and other commercial actors, there are ongoing conflicts between them, the Huaorani and other indigenous ethnic groups who live on the edge of the national park ( Kichwa , Shuar, etc.). Numerous other interest groups such as missionaries, settlers, conservationists, human rights activists, state authorities, the military and ethnologists make the Yasuní an internationally known area of ​​tension.

Ecology and biodiversity

White-banded swallow in a log on the bank of the Tiputini River .

The Yasuní region is almost entirely made up of humid tropical rainforests . Some of the more common tree species are Macrolobium acaciifolium , Coussapoa trinervia , Licania sp. and Eugenia sp. On land that has not been flooded, the Terra Firme forest grows on periodically flooded areas; Varzea and Irapo forests in permanently flooded areas. Coffee, cassava , rice and sugar cane are grown in the small-scale agro-ecosystems . The bat species Lophostoma yasuni is an exemplary endemic species in this national park.

Yasuní is one of the global biodiversity hotspots . In view of the extraordinary biodiversity - including numerous endemic , rare and in some cases endangered or even endangered species -, the good state of preservation and its status as a cultural heritage, the researchers agree on the unique value of the park.

With a total of 2,274 tree and bush species, 644 identified species can be found in this park on a single hectare. That is more than all native tree species in the United States and Canada combined and is considered to be by far the highest number of tree species per hectare in the world. 593 bird species have also been registered, making the park one of the most species-rich places in the world in this respect. There are also 80 bat species, 150 amphibian and 121 reptile species, and more than 4,000 different vascular plants per 1,000,000 hectares. Nowhere else on the planet are there more species of insects than here. They are estimated to be 100,000 species per hectare. There is also a high proportion of endemic species in the flora and fauna .

Although the Yasuni National Park only takes up 0.15% of the total area of ​​the Amazon, around a third of all Amazonian reptiles , birds and mammals occur there, as well as more than a quarter of all amphibian species and around a seventh of all fish species in Amazonia. They show a continental and partly global maximum in their biodiversity.

The rise in temperature caused by climate change is expected to be comparatively moderate, making the park particularly important for future species protection. These characteristics of the national park have various causes such as the stability of its climate, the large amounts of precipitation and the high temperatures that are constant over the seasons. The different soils have produced different types of ecosystems both in the dry and in the flooded jungle areas. It is also worth noting that Yasuní was one of the Pleistocene refuges . In this geological phase 1.8 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, the climate cooled down drastically and a large part of the Amazon region was transformed into a steppe landscape. The species are concentrated in a few places, the so-called Pleistocene refuges, where - as in Yasuní - the rainforest has been preserved and new species have developed and spread.

Indigenous people

Demonstration of a blowpipe .

The entire, very sparsely populated Yasuní region is mainly inhabited by various indigenous peoples who primarily live from hunting , fishing and small-scale farming . Other sources of income are handicrafts , tourism and various activities for the oil companies.

Among them are at least two hardly contacted groups who want to preserve their culture in voluntary isolation from the rest of the world: the Tagaeri and Taromenane , both of whom belong to the Huaorani ethnic group . The isolated groups in particular are threatened by the illegal timber mafia and would very likely be doomed if the untapped oil reserves were exploited.

Environment, climate policy

In order to investigate possible oil reserves , test drilling was carried out in the national park, whereby three oil wells were discovered and named Ishpingo , Tambococha and Tiputini . The oil region is named ITT after the first letters.

The Ecuadorian government has had plans since 2007 to forego the exploitation of the large ITT oil field in the east of the national park in favor of the environment, climate protection and the indigenous population and to allow the international community to compensate for half of the lost oil revenues. This would amount to an estimated US $ 350 million per year over 30 years, which is to be used for the sustainable development of the country.

The American biologist Clinton Jenkins from Duke University saw the matter as a test case for the global community's willingness to pay appropriately for climate and environmental protection. Some journalists and politicians consider the threat of the state of Ecuador to destroy its own biosphere reserve and the habitat of the country's indigenous population if the global community does not balance economic interests as immoral, which has sparked a controversial discussion about morality and ecology.

The oil reserves in the Yasuní National Park were estimated in 2008 at 412 million to 930 million barrels. Although this is worth billions, it only covers the world's oil demand for a few days with an average daily production volume of 72.3 million barrels in 2007. According to the latest estimates, the ITT block contains 846 million barrels of recoverable grade 14.7 API heavy fuel oil. Exploitation of this field would produce approximately 107,000 barrels per day for an estimated 13 years . After that, production would gradually phase out for another twelve years. Although the ITT field's proven reserves are 944 million barrels, there are potential additional reserves of 1.53 billion barrels, but the extent of this has not yet been determined as no 3D seismic prospecting has been conducted. This fact plays a role in the discussion about not exploiting the deposit in order to preserve the biosphere reserve.

The German Bundestag supported a renunciation of the exploitation of the oil field in exchange for a balance of economic interests.

Since future generations and governments in Ecuador could decide differently on the question of the use of oil reserves, this possibility should also be taken into account in a contract. The entire envisaged contract is also a pilot project from a legal point of view.

After President Rafael Correa threatened to start oil production in the ITT area within six months in January 2010, the foreign minister and the entire government negotiating committee resigned. The project was thus on the brink - especially since the preparations for “Plan B” (the extraction of crude oil) continued unabated.

ITT initiative, goals and failure

With the so-called Yasuní-ITT initiative, Ecuador would have made a binding international commitment to keep the oil reserves of the ITT field in the ground forever. This would have avoided the emission of 407 million tons of CO 2 into the atmosphere, which would otherwise result from the combustion of the oil produced. The actual value of the avoided emissions is even greater if the effects of deforestation directly and indirectly associated with the promotion , the emissions from the use and construction of the infrastructure and the methane produced by the livestock farming of the newly settled areas, as well as other sources to be included. The value of CO 2 emissions is considerable: it exceeds the annual emissions of Brazil (332 million tons) and France (373 million tons) and is equivalent to the emissions produced by Ecuador in 13 years (29 million tons). Using the most recent CER value of US $ 17.66 per ton in the European market, the financial value of emissions that could have been avoided through the initiative is US $ 7,188 billion.

The Climate Alliance Austria issued a declaration of support in February 2010. In addition, in April 2010 the European city network Climate Alliance called on the EU and its member states to “support the Yasuní initiative financially in such a way that they raise the European share within the industrialized countries”.

On 10 October 2012, the hit BMZ within the framework of development cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and Ecuador signed an agreement to protect the Yasuní region that to which REDD model ( "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation" , dt. About "reducing Emissions from deforestation and destructive forest use ”). Federal Development Minister Dirk Niebel , who had repeatedly spoken out against the initiative, emphasized that Germany would not participate in payments to refrain from forest destruction , but had developed a model that rewarded active action. Germany will provide 24.5 million euros for the protection of biodiversity and the indigenous peoples. This supports the Ecuadorian forest protection program “Socio Bosque”, which, in addition to nature conservation, also provides measures to strengthen the sustainable development of the local economy in the region.

On August 16, 2013, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa announced in a televised address that the ITT blocks would be cleared for oil drilling. He justified this with the failure of the international community to provide the expected financial resources. At the time of the announcement, only about $ 335 million had been committed and only $ 13.3 million had actually been paid. The contributions paid are now to be repaid. On October 3, 2013, Parliament approved the government's proposal by 108 votes against 25 to allow oil drilling subject to conditions. Indigenous peoples affected by the oil drilling were also skeptical of the ITT initiative because they were not consulted and feared that most of the money would not go to them but would have been used for political projects by President Correa. Oil production should start in 2016 at the latest.

literature

  • Margot S. Bass, Christian C. Voigt, et al. (2010): Global Conservation Significance of Ecuador's Yasuný´National Park. PLoS One
  • Greenberg, JA, SC Kefauver, HC Stimson, CJ Yeaton, and SL Ustin. 2005. Survival analysis of a neotropical rainforest using multitemporal satellite imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment 96 (2): 202-211.
  • Hennessy, LA (2000). Whither the Huaorani? competing interventions in indigenous Ecuador. Master's thesis, Berkeley, University of California , Berkeley.
  • Lu, FE (1999). Changes in subsistence patterns and resource use of the Huaorani Indians in the Ecuadorian Amazon. PhD dissertation. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill .
  • Ministerio del Ambiente & Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio e Integración (2007). Yasuní-ITT initiative. The big proposal of a small country.
  • Pitman, NCA (2000). A large-scale inventory of two Amazonian tree communities. PhD dissertation. Durham, Duke University .

Web links

Commons : Yasuní National Park  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Yasuní in Ecuador. Protectedplanet / IUCN. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  2. a b c d Philip Franz Fridolin Gondecki: We defend our forest. Dissertation at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn , online version , University and State Library Bonn, published on January 22, 2015, pp. 198–202
  3. ^ Margot S. Bass; Clinton N. Jenkins; Holger Kreft ; Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia; et al .: Global Conservation Significance of Ecuador's Yasuní National Park . In: Public Library of Science . 5, No. 1, 2010. doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0008767 . Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  4. a b c Heiko Feser: The Huaorani on the way into the new millennium. Ethnological Studies Vol. 35, Institute for Ethnology at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, published by LIT Verlag, Münster, 2000, ISBN 3-8258-5215-6 . Pp. 30, 44, 48-49, 235-236, 263-265, 278.
  5. Leah Temper and Joan Martinez Alier: The oil should stay in the ground. In: Le Monde diplomatique. May 9, 2008, accessed December 10, 2008 .
  6. Threat with the derrick. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung online, December 1, 2008
  7. The value of the forest. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. December 2, 2008, archived from the original on June 22, 2009 ; Retrieved February 23, 2010 .
  8. Page no longer available , search in web archives: Erdöl- Erdgasdaten 2007 (PDF; 381 kB)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.geologie.ac.at
  9. ^ [Actualización del Estudio ITT] Beicip Franlab (2004). Actualización del Estudio ITT. Evaluación Económica Upstream. Informe Final. Proyecto 202 105; Petroproducción (2009) Proyecto ITT. (Presentación Powerpoint, April).
  10. ^ German Bundestag, 16th electoral term. Printed matter 16/9758 (PDF; 156 kB) Application by members of the CDU, SPD and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen for the Yasuní National Park and the proposal from Ecuador, June 25, 2008
  11. ^ Gerhard Dilger: Jungle instead of oil project on the dump. Klimaretter.info , January 1, 2010, accessed November 9, 2011 .
  12. José Olmos, María Alejandra Torres: Petroleum machinery on the edge of the ITT. In: El Universo , January 24, 2010, translated into: Quetzal, April 2010, accessed on April 14, 2010
  13. [1] UNDP (2008). Human Development Report.
  14. ↑ Declaration of support for Yasuni National Park. In: Der Standard , February 3, 2010, accessed April 14, 2010
  15. Leave the oil in the ground! (pdf; 50 kB) In: Climate Alliance. April 15, 2010, archived from the original on March 3, 2016 ; Retrieved November 9, 2011 .
  16. Niebel's lonely fight against Yasuní . October 6, 2011. 
  17. BMZ press release of October 11, 2012 ( Memento of October 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  18. Amazon region: Ecuador allows oil drilling in the national park. In: Spiegel Online . August 16, 2013, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  19. Ecuador: Parliament allows oil production in the national park ( memento from October 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) - tagesschau.de, October 4, 2013
  20. Ecuador's Parliament for Oil Production in Yasuní National Park | News America - DW.DE, October 4, 2013
  21. The ground beneath your feet - Neue Zürcher Zeitung, January 14, 2012
  22. Ecuador approves oil production in a national park . In: ZEIT online , May 23, 2014.