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.