Yasuní National Park spans about 2.5 million acres of the Amazon rainforest. This protected area in Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, containing thousands of different species. It is also home to several Indigenous communities.
But underneath the park lies the South American country’s largest reserve of oil. For more than a decade, Indigenous and environmental activists have been fighting to ban oil drilling in the area since it destroys forests and pollutes waterways. Burning oil, a fossil fuel, also worsens global climate change.
Despite this, companies were allowed to extract oil anyway—until this past August when Ecuadorians officially voted in favor of the ban. Environmentalists see the vote as a major victory for the planet. “The Ecuadorian people struck a mighty blow to the oil industry, protected one of the most biodiverse forests in the Amazon, and showed the world what grassroots climate action looks like,” says Mitch Anderson, director of the nonprofit Amazon Frontlines.