Fight for Yasuni Far from Finished

摘要

AS A SCIENTIST WITH EXPERIENCE IN WESTERN AMAZONIA SINCE 1979, INCLUDING 16 YEARS monitoring oil impacts in Yasuni, I appreciate the publicity that E. Marx's News Focus story ("The fight for Yasuni," 26 November 2010, p. 1170) brings to the issue of conserving the biodiversity in this Ecuadorian forest. However, when Marx writes that we're "on the verge of winning" the battle, I simply must differ. Undoubtedly, gathering and sharing hard data from Yasuni over the past two decades have substantially strengthened arguments for its conservation. Nonetheless, filling the trust fund with enough contributions to compensate Ecuador for the oil fields that will not be built in Yasuni is a daunting challenge.