Aug. 20 marked the first anniversary of Ecuadorian voters’ historic approval of a national referendum to shut down operations on Block 43, an Amazon-region oil concession area more widely known as Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT). The unprecedented Aug. 20, 2023 rejection of oil development in the sprawling 190,000-hectare (730-sq.-mile) concession area occurred in part because nearly half of the block underlies highly biodiverse Yasuní National Park, a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve since 1989. (See "Ecuadorians vote “yes” to safeguard two biospheres" —EcoAméricas, August 2023.) Some 5.5 million Ecuadorians, 59% of voters, approved the referendum to protect the region, which is home to Indigenous Waorani communities and frequented by the Tagaeri and Taromenane, nomadic Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation. The ITT block, all of which must be shut down—not only the part in Yasuní—had... [Log in to read more]