Yasuní

Over the past decade, biologists who work in Yasuní National Park, have documented Yasuni's remarcable biodiversity, they prove that Yasuní forest has the highest number of species of the planet, including an unprecedented core where there are overlapping world richness records for amphibians, reptiles, bats, and trees.

A group called Scientists Concerned for Yasuní (SCY),  these researchers have waged an international campaign to protect the location, which happens to sit atop Ecuador's second largest reserve of crude oil. This unabashed science-based advocacy has had an impact. In 2007  Ecuador President Rafael Correa offered a proposal in which his country would  in exchange for several billion dollars keep the oil permanently under ground. 


The innovative initiative took a significant step toward reality this summer when the United Nations agreed to oversee a trust fund paid to Ecuador for the project. If all goes according to plan, the initiative may serve as a model for preserving intact biodiversity in other oil-rich portions of the western Amazon. But that's a big "if": President Correa has vowed to allow drilling if the international community fails to compensate Ecuador sufficiently.