Project secures rainforest future

In a world first, oil buried deep in the Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador is set to stay in the ground in exchange for help with the country's economic development, in a project involving researchers from The Australian National University. The Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies (ANCLAS) at ANU has been awarded a $292,000 grant from AusAID under its Public Sector Linkages Program to study the feasibility of the groundbreaking idea. The plan, proposed by the Ecuador government, aims to leave about 850 million barrels of oil - approximately 20 per cent of Ecuador's reserves - in the ground to avoid the potentially devastating effects that exploitation of the oil would have on the local environment and indigenous groups. John Minns, Director of ANCLAS, said the Yasuní-ITT area of Amazonian rainforest is one of the most bio-diverse areas of the planet, with just a single hectare boasting a similar number of tree species as the whole of North America. "The area is extremely fragile and Ecuador has already suffered some serious environmental problems caused by the extraction of oil. Further extraction of oil would only cause more environmental damage, which can happen through oil spills. Additionally, roads and townships would have to be built," he said.