In a historic move, the people of Ecuador have rejected drilling of oil in the Amazon protected area. Almost 60 percent of the voters put a halt on the oil extraction development plans in the Yasuni National Park on Monday.

The Yasuni National Park is inhabited by the Tagaeri and Taromenani, who live in voluntary isolation, and other Indigenous groups. In 1989, UNESCO declared it as a Biosphere Reserve. The park stretches around 2.5 million acres and inhabits 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians and 121 species of reptiles. The area holds large deposits of oil, and has a crucial role in oil development in Ecuador. 

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This move is a big blow to President Guillermo Lasso’s government, who played an active role in advocating for oil drilling, asserting that its revenues are crucial to the country’s economy. 

This referendum is a result of a long battle that the people of Ecuador and environmentalists around the world have fought for since 2007. Indigenous leaders were at the forefront of pushing for a ban on oil drilling in the Yasuni. In recent weeks, a group of indigenous Waorani activists travelled to 12 cities throughout the country to persuade residents to vote yes on the referendum. 

Now, the state oil company Petroecuador, which currently produces almost 60,000 barrels a day in Yasuni, will be required to dismantle its operations in the coming months.