Ecuador invites world to save its forest

A memo of understanding was recently signed between the state-owned oil company, Petroecuador, and the state oil companies of China, Chile, and Brazil, putting onto paper the interests of the latter three in developing and exploiting the ITT's oil reserves. Companies from many other countries have also expressed interest.

A financing plan for Correa's proposal to not allow drilling has not yet been detailed, but Ecuador's minister for energy, Alberto Acosta, envisions a combination of "bilateral and multilateral debt-for-conservation swaps, bilateral donations, individual contributions, contributions from environmental and human rights NGOs, and the placement of certificates for non-exploited crude on international markets." Foreign governments are expressing interest. Spain has stated that it is open to the possibility of a debt-for-conservation swap, while Norway has indicated the possibility of a bilateral donation.

"The money would be held in a trust fund outside of Ecuador," Mr. Acosta says. "An international watchdog group would keep an eye out to ensure not only that the Yasuni is not being exploited, but that the compensating funds go to development-related activities as promised, and not, say, to purchase arms," he says. If a future administration were tempted to allow drilling in the Yasuni, Ecuador would risk losing its cash flow from the trust fund.

How environmentalists see it

The reaction of international environmental organizations ranges from enthusiastic to skeptical.

Luis Suarez, executive director of Conservation International's office in Ecuador, calls the proposal "innovative and interesting," particularly because it is spearheaded by the president and the minister for energy, rather than by the environmental community.

Regional Director of the World Conservation Union, Robert Hofstede, describes the proposal as "interesting, and not unfeasible, but very difficult" due to the challenge of placing a dollar value on the environmental, cultural, and social value of the Yasuni.

Similar concepts have been floated before but not realized, says Michael Dorsey of the Sierra Club. Papua New Guinea, for instance, has led an 11-country team in championing the idea of awarding carbon-trading credits in exchange for the preservation of rain forests at UN Climate Change conferences. Under the arrangement, developing countries with rich forests that offset carbon emissions would earn credits for maintaining those forests. Those credits are called Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) and can be bought on international carbon-trading markets by developed countries that are exceeding their carbon emission targets as set forth in the Kyoto Protocol. But, so far, no credits have been granted for preserving forests.

"In general, these ideas are positively received," says Dorsey. "But there is not much of a movement [to support them] in the mainstream." Dorsey attributes the hesitance to the power of corporate interests.

No environmental groups have announced a compensation plan yet, but this may change after receiving official contact and further details about the proposal following Tuesday's launch.

"The priority option would be to keep the oil of the ITT underground," says Correa. Meanwhile, he is holding talks with Petroecuador about the bidding process to drill.

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