In a remote and inaccessible part of Ecuador, on the border with Peru, in the Yasuni national Park, the earth is swarming with life like nowhere else in the world. There is an ABSOLUTE RECORD of species diversity of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and woody plants, estimated by the number of species per 100 km square. How many deciduous trees do you remember in your area? 15-20 at most. Here there are more than 600 species of trees per 1 hectare! – not counting shrubs, vines, epiphytes and herbs. And if some stubborn scientist tried to make a catalog of invertebrates (and such attempts were made), he doesn't have enough life for that. But there is also a microbial community... We are going to go to this living cauldron this autumn.
Look details of the upcoming expedition to Yasuni with one of our three candidates of Sciences (2 biologists and geographer) under the program "Amazonia, volcanoes and Pacific ocean"
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Where on the Earth is biodiversity at its highest? It is here, in a remote and inaccessible part of Ecuador in the national Park Yasuni recorded an absolute record of species diversity of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and woody plants, estimated by the number of species per 100 km square.
Details of the upcoming expedition with a very experienced Russian guide, PHD in Biology, to Ecuador on the program "Amazonia, volcanoes and the Pacific ocean" see here.
Coincidentally, a large oil field was discovered on the territory of Yasuni national park, which is also home to isolated Indian tribes.
Oil extraction in Yasuni is happening in Blocks 31 and 43, better known as the ITT Initiative, and is made up of the Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini fields. In October 2013, the Assembly accepted the request of former President Rafael Correa to allow hydrocarbon extraction in Blocks 31 and 43. These blocks encroach on the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone (ZITT), created to protect Indigenous communities in the area whose residents choose to remain isolated from other people. The Tagaeri Taromenane People are two indigenous groups belonging to the Waorani first nation living in voluntary isolation within the Napo region of the western Amazon rainforest. To protect their territory the Ecuadorean State has declared and geographically defined, by Decrees, the Zona Intangible Tagaeri Taromenane (ZITT). This zone is located within the UNESCO Yasuní Biosphere Reserve (1989), one of the most biodiverse areas in the world.
In a recent referendum, 67.5 % of Ecuador’s population voted in favor increasing Yasuní National Park’s Intangible Zone by at least 50,000 hectares and reducing the oil extraction area in the park from 1,030 to 300 hectares.
For the first time, those opposing the initiative have a crucial weapon to fight the extraction of oil, which began more than four years ago. This weapon against the extraction is known as “popular will” and is supported by 6.1 million Ecuadorians (with 98.5 % of the overall vote) who voted “yes” to Question of oil extraction’s inadmissibility on a recent referendum.
