Resist

The Yasuni National Park is in the Ecuadorian Amazon and considered to
be one of the most bio-diverse places in the world.  Until 50 years
ago, when oil was discovered there it was almost completely
disconnected from the rest of Ecuador and the world.  The Waorani, the
original indigenous people of the area, have fought to resist
conquistadors and other intruders through the centuries, the most
famous being Francisco de Orellana in search of El Dorado.  The
Waorani,  were first ‘peacefully’ contacted in the late 1950’s however
there were groups who rejected this contact, fled deeper into the
forest and still maintain voluntary isolation from the rest of the
world.  Also inhabiting el Yasuni region are the Kichwa and Shuar
indigenous peoples, who, along with the Waorani continue to struggle
against the trespassers: rubber-tappers, loggers and oil companies,
and the epidemics that come with them.
Over the last 50 years oil exploitation in the region has flourished
and so too in consequence have social, environmental and economic
problems.  In response many local and indigenous people have fought
back with strikes, road blockages, resistance against further
exploitation of oil and the violation of their rights.  Most recently
some local people took this level of resistance to another level and,
lead by the local government of Orellana, decided that this fight had
to move onto an international level by creating this campaign Yasuni
Green Gold.  The campaign is an international network of people and
organisations who believe that the Yasuni is Green Gold and must be
preserved.  It supports local people fighting against violations of
environmental, human rights and indigenous rights laws.
If you’d like to know more then please do not hesitate to get in
contact, you can also find further information on our site
http://www.yasunigreengold.org.