Miguel Ángel Martín López. Head of International Cooperation, Cordoba Diputación, Spain.

"I vividly remember the images, colours and smells of my descent, by boat, through the river Napo arriving finally at one of the communities in the lower Tiputini, in the depths of the Yasuní. Nature, in its most pure and virginal form was in front of my very eyes. This manifested itself with even greater force and vigour entering further inland. It is an impregnable tangle, and explosion of life. How many secrets it must contain! Only its inhabitants, the indigenous peoples, have been able to gain knowledge about them. Those who live so far away, yet at the same time so close to the real world.


It is true that the whole world is interconnected - that famous globalization. Not long ago I read that the Amazon needs elements contained in sand brought over by the wind from the Sahara desert. Without doubt, now more than ever, humanity has the obligation and moral duty to protect these incredibly pure landscapes. This is because it means humane and sustainable development for its original occupants and for all humanity. It is life, because we need what it offers, its oxygen and its consciousness about all nature.


Nature is paradoxical. So strong, vigorous and wild in itself, yet so fragile and vulnerable in the hands of man. We should all help, so that it should not be necessary to lose even an inch of its wealth. Yasuní is Green Gold, because of this I support the campaign".

Miguel Ángel Martín López

Head of International Cooperation, Cordoba Diputación, Spain.

Luis Robles. National Project Director for Ecuador, Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI), Ecuador.

"Global vested interest at the highest level in the Yasuni territory is on the rise. It is one of the richest areas in the world in terms of natural resources. As a result, it has become a hot zone. The race for timber and oil resources is not only threatening the local ecosystem, but also the traditional people who live on this ancestral land and the mestizo population who is dependent on the economy created by the uncontrolled exploitation of the Yasuni forest.


However, in the middle of this whirlwind, a proposal has emerged in Yasuni, outlining local land management, coexistence, and change. The many groups within the Ecuadorian indigenous movement, as well as several social collectives from the area backed by the local government in Francisco de Orellana, are calling upon the international community to recognise their proposals to self-manage their territory in an inclusive and participatory way.


While working with FORMIA, part of the Secretary of State for Indigenous People (CODENPE), to strengthen the rural areas, I was fortunate enough to meet and work with some of these local groups. I witnessed how they are coming up with inclusive development proposals that are respectful of their land by strengthening the organisational and participatory processes of their societies".


The initiative to launch this campaign to save the Yasuni was born in this tumultuous, yet hopeful, atmosphere. A place where conflict, dialogue, and change intermingle. From here, I wish to call upon both national and international actors who have a stake in Yasuni to listen. Let us open our ears to the proposals of the local people while retaining our capacity to provide constructive criticism. And let us join them in the processes that they themselves have initiated. Yasuni is Green Gold

Luis Robles

National Project Director for Ecuador, Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI), Ecuador.

Terry L. Erwin. Curator of Coleoptera and Chairman. Entomology Departament. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington D

“Each hectare of pristine Amazonian rainforest contains up to 3.03 x 1012 individuals of terrestrial arthropods representing some 100,000+ species. Our research team is in the midst of a long term study in an area of Yasuni National Park that has been impacted by road construction for oil extraction. Our team has collected nearly 10 million specimens of arthropods, including over 300,000 beetles so far. We estimate that 50 - 80 percent of the species in the Yasuni forest canopy are new to science and never before viewed under a microscope. Because our research on the link between oil extraction, road-building, and the forest canopy fauna is so closely related to the theme of the Yasuni Green Gold book, we wholeheartedly support its publication. We hope that Yasuni National Park will remain a pristine forest ecosystem where researchers and students can come to study tropical biology and biodiversity. The Yasuni Green Gold campaign will show the world what irreplaceable treasures of diversity Yasuni rainforests truly are.”

Dr. Terry L. Erwin

Curator of Coleoptera and Chairman. Entomology Departament

and

Dr. Christy Jo Geraci
Department of Entomology. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, USA

Christy Jo Gerac. Entomology Departament, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, USA

“Each hectare of pristine Amazonian rainforest contains up to 3.03 x 1012 individuals of terrestrial arthropods representing some 100,000+ species. Our research team is in the midst of a long term study in an area of Yasuni National Park that has been impacted by road construction for oil extraction. Our team has collected nearly 10 million specimens of arthropods, including over 300,000 beetles so far. We estimate that 50 - 80 percent of the species in the Yasuni forest canopy are new to science and never before viewed under a microscope. Because our research on the link between oil extraction, road-building, and the forest canopy fauna is so closely related to the theme of the Yasuni Green Gold book, we wholeheartedly support its publication. We hope that Yasuni National Park will remain a pristine forest ecosystem where researchers and students can come to study tropical biology and biodiversity. The Yasuni Green Gold campaign will show the world what irreplaceable treasures of diversity Yasuni
rainforests truly are.”

Dr. Christy Jo Geraci

Entomology Departament

and

Dr. Terry L. Erwin
Curator of Coleoptera and Chairman, Department of Entomology. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, USA

Nils Köster. Epiphyte Working Group. Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants. Bonn. Germany

“While it is often difficult to spot the fascinating wildlife and plants in the penumbral brush of tropical rain forests, life takes place most spectacularly in the canopy, high above our heads. Not only do most of the trees themselves bloom and fruit there and attract immense numbers of birds, bats, and insects. Numerous orchids, bromeliads, ferns, and other so-called epiphytes grow high above the ground on the branches and twigs of their host trees, benefiting of the full sunlight.


The epiphytic life requires scores of adaptations to this fragile habitat without any contact to the forest soil. Epiphytes developed a multitude of strategies to obtain and store both water and nutrients, like tank bromeliads and trash-basket ferns. They also show intricate and highly specialized systems of pollination and dispersal, augmenting the diversity of animals involved as well.


Unless fallen trees reveal their manifold inhabitants, scientists have to climb up into the canopy in order to explore the diversity of epiphytes. At Yasuní, we found almost 150 different epiphyte species on not more than 0.1 hectares of rain forest. Worldwide, this is the highest epiphyte diversity ever recorded for an area of that size - another evidence for the enormous biodiversity of Yasuní and a reason to support the ‘Yasuní Green Gold’ campaign.”


Nils Köster

Epiphyte Working Group. Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants. Bonn. Germany

Joaquin Avilés Lopez. Millennium Villages Project. The Earth Institute, Columbia University. New York. USA

"The idea of that anything is allowed for the sake of economic growth and the typically disproportionate, energy needs of the --"developed” world, needs to be reviewed and modified if we want to reach a truly sustainable and equitable development.


It is our responsibility towards the planet as global citizens and it has to be our commitment to the future generations to protect and to conserve Natural Treasures such as Yasuní, UNESCO World Biosphere and a true jewel within the Amazonia.


For that reason the campaign "Yasuni Oro Verde-Yasuni Green Gold" is an excellent opportunity to promote and defend this unequalled reserve and the values inherent to it.


At the same time, this campaign aims to contribute to a broader global debate that will lead to specific actions to protect the many other places threatened by the need to meet the growing energy consumption of a small fraction of the planet’s population".


Joaquin Avilés Lopez

Millennium Villages Project. The Earth Institute, Columbia University. New York. USA

Javier Retana. Professor of Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications. Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Spain.

“The Yasuní Natural Park is one of the world’s most diverse nature reserves. The hundreds of animal and plant species which inhabit the Park interact together, allowing the successful functioning of ecological communities. These communities exist in a unique ecosystem in constant evolution which not only maintains local biodiversity but is also of vital importance for the entire planet’s ecology. Every single individual of each species of the Yasuní, (including our own species) depends on, to survive, the successful operation of the ecosystem which they themselves shape. The preservation of these privileged ecosystems and their species is a challenge and an obligation for all of humanity. As Researcher for the Centre of Ecological Investigation and Forestry Applications in Barcelona, I consider it not a duty but a privilege to join the cause in the defence, protection and conservation of the precious biological diversity of the Yasuní.”

Javier Retana

Professor of Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications. Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Spain.