Russia pledges support for Ecuador’s innovative global ecology initiative

Also present at the presentation events were Ecuadorian Ambassador to Russia Patricio Chavez Zavala, Terra Viva Public Environmental Movement Chairman Nikolai Drozdov, Terra Viva Board of Trustees Chairman Anatoly Korobeinikov, International Academy of Social Sciences President Asya Wexler, as well as members of the State Duma, several ambassadors of Latin American and Caribbean countries accredited in Russia and a galaxy of social celebrities and other VIP guests from all works of life.

As the head of the YNP Foundation, A-Baki has traveled across the world, holding talks and negotiations with leaders of European nations, Arab world and Latin American countries as well as with the representatives of business communities and environmental organizations in these regions. According to her data, as of today, such countries as Italy, Spain, Chile, Peru, etc., despite the current global financial and economic crisis, have already declared their intentions to support Ecuador’s initiative, while negotiations are currently in progress with Germany, France and several countries. Russia has also shown interest in the YNP project, as evident in the meeting of A-Baki with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during this visit. Specifically, Ryabkov said that Moscow is ready to support the Ecuadorian government’s ecology preservation initiative.

Official presentation of a unique project

Presenting the initiative to the representatives of Russian ecological organizations and mass media at the President Hotel, A-Baki described the YNP as well as the Ecuadorian President’s initiative which is aimed at preserving it in depth. The YNP is a unique place located on the equator and on the middle of the Earth. Its territory spreads over an area of 10,000 square kilometers. This massive ‘virgin’ forest, which serves as a habitat for two primitive Indian tribes, is considered to be one of the most unique places on the planet in terms of biological diversities. For example, it is home for about 60% of all the mammals in Ecuador and to over 500 different species of birds. There are over 500 different species of trees growing on a hectare of land. 

“Briefly put, this initiative envisages Ecuador’s voluntary refusal to extract petroleum from the Yasuni National Park’s oil deposits, estimated at 850mln barrels, so as to preserve our Earth’s ecological balance.”

It is no wonder that UNESCO has declared the YNP a ‘Global Biosphere Reserve. For example, this place has no analogs in the world in terms of density and diversity of its biological resources per hectare of land. For comparative purposes, suffice it to say that, according to leading ecologists’ data, this park has more greenery than all the territories of the United States and Canada combined. In fact, the unique rainforests in the Amazon Basin are the ‘lungs’ of the Earth.

However, today, there is a major danger dangling above this park and its abundant resources like the Sword of Damocles. The danger stems from the fact that the park also has huge amount of oil deposits, which, according to experts’ estimates, total about 850mln barrels. Attempts to preserve the park in its contemporary virgin state made Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to come up with an innovative initiative, which he presented at the UN General Assembly in 2007. Briefly put, this initiative envisages Ecuador’s voluntary refusal to extract petroleum from the rich oil deposits under the Yasuni National Park, estimated at 850mln barrels, so as to preserve our Earth’s ecological balance. 

This is because such policy will stop the emissions of about 450mln metric tons of carbon dioxide from the open combustion of this vast amount of oil and related petroleum byproducts. This initiative will also contribute to the preservation and restoration of the environment, preservation and conservation of the historical heritage of the park both for the present and future generations. To put this initiative into practice, Ecuador has established the Yasuni ITT International Foundation to promote this ecological project all over the world.

In return, the Ecuadorian government has asked the international community, including Russia, to compensate half of the profits that it could have generated from the extraction of this oil. According to A-Baki’s data, the sum of lost profits as a result of Ecuador’s decision not to extract the oil, according to the most modest estimates, totals about $7.6bln. “In this regard, our government wants the international community to compensate only half of this amount under a UN guaranty that Ecuador will not extract oil in this region in the future.”

This guaranty, according to A-Baki and the Ecuadorian Ambassador to Russia, implies that if any future leader of Ecuador wants to develop the oil deposits in this park, the government will have to refund all the investments to the foreign governments and organizations that had donated this capital to help protect the Yanusi Park, plus all the interests that will have accrued on them over the years. “In this case, the donated sums will be converted into special state bonds that Ecuador has to honor as a high-priority objective. To this end, the government has already issued special open-ended guaranty certificates that will be given to such donors in lieu of their cash.”

Declaration of support by Russia’s ecological NGOs

Speaking in support of the initiative, Drozdov said that the preservation of nature and its rich resources demands a joint global approach. “Ecuador is the first major oil country in the world that has announced its intention to voluntarily refuse to extract oil for the sake of preservation of global ecology. It is the first real attempt to actually protect our planet’s biodiversity on a global scale,” he said. “Our Earth and its resources belong to all mankind and not to individual countries. Therefore, let’s support Ecuador’s environmental initiative and restrain our thirst for money, otherwise we shall only destroy ourselves if such behavioral trends remain intact.” 

Korobeinikov also shares this similar point of view, as he called the Ecuador’s innovative ecological initiative “a real important step” in the search for alternative sources of energy. Just like other representatives of Russia’s NGOs, Korobeinikov has also made a commitment to make programs aimed at promoting the new innovative project in Russia and other CIS countries a key part of the ongoing joint activities with the Ecuadorian Embassy in Moscow. “The time has come to think about the future of our planet. Therefore, Russia will actively support this project via participations in the implementation of all the programs earmarked for realization within the Yasuni ITT project.”

In conclusion, A-Baki noted that Ecuador will review all the efforts — total cash donations and promises from leading major countries, representatives of international organizations and even individuals — at the end of this year so as to make a decision on how to proceed further. “I must say that even though we have so-called ‘Plan B’ in case we fail to get the expected compensation from the international community, we, however, do not feel like implementing it, that is extracting oil from the YNP,” she added. “The point is that we expect the global community to show solidarity and due support for our initiative, which really has the capability to fundamentally change our world and our attitude toward nature in terms of preservation of its resources for the present and future generations.” At the end of the presentation, A-Baki was honored with the International Public Peace Award “for her enormous contribution to the preservation of nature and care for our planet’s ecology.”