I love free stuff, so what better than the two-for-one bargain of this gorgeous photography book, Yasuni Green Gold - you get a lovely book and help protect the rainforest at the same time.
The Yasuni UNESCO Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon is one of the last untouched areas of the world and home to 26 endangered species and indigenous tribal groups. But as well as a wealth of biodiversity the region suffers from the resource curse - its ancient woodland and rich soils hide precious oil reserves - green gold - and the Ecuadorian government is keen to exploit their value.
This has already happened in many parts of the Amazon, and the consequences aren't pretty, as my piece
here
illustrates. In this case however Yasuni has been offered something of
a caveat - if enough "compensation" is raised to pay the government
off, the money lost by not plumbing the oil reserves, they will keep
their hands off the booty.
The book is one of a series of moves to raise international awareness of the issue and persuade people like the British government to commit to providing some of the finance for the plan (read the Early Day Motion from when the Mayor of Yasuni visited the UK recently).
The idea of the international community paying to protect the
environment has been road-tested in various ways and is a tricky
business, both ethically and in practical terms. There was a lot of
fuss about various deals touted last year to put the Iwokrama forest in Guyana under international protection of some sort, and there were particular worries the small country would be surrendering its sovereignty in some way.
In the end a deal was bashed out with a private equity firm, Canopy Capital. I'm not 100 per cent sure about the long term ethics of this sort of deal, but I haven't seen any better or more effective options for keeping
the loggers and the oilmen out.
But time is running out - the Ecuadorian government have told the people of Yasuni they have only until December to come up with a plan of action, and are asking for $350 million annually for the next ten years not to start the drilling.
Quick - buy the book here - to discover the amazing species we need to protect like green iguanas and red titi monkeys.
The cuddlier creatures are often featured with young children who keep them as pets, proving that man and nature can live in harmony.
(All photographs are taken from the book)


amazing.
bought the book, looking forward to it! ;)
cheers,
bill
p.s. stuff and nonsense: http://www.eupeople.net/forum
Posted by: bill | Friday, 31 October 2008 at 03:01 PM
The last link to buy the book is not working. The correct link is:
http://www.yasunigreengold.org/yasuni-shop.php
I have bought it and is amazing! Help Yasuni and support Yasuni Green Gold campaign
cheers
Posted by: Rubia Torres | Friday, 31 October 2008 at 05:17 PM
Thanks for publicising this. The New Internationalist Magazine has been supporting the Yasuni Green Gold campaign. In July we ran an entire issue of the magazine on the Yasuni's plight and the battle to save it. Read the articles here: http://www.newint.org/issues/2008/07/01/
It's a fantastic campaign and deserves the support of everyone who wants to save both this incredible place and the planet we all rely on.
P.S. One small clarification - it is the international community, not the local people, who are being asked to provide $350m annually. I wouldn't want anyone to misunderstand the final paragraph above.
cheers,
Richard
Posted by: Richard Howlett | Friday, 31 October 2008 at 05:46 PM
Well thats christmas sorted out for the family then! Brilliant idea and lets hope it works.
If I could suggest another book too though Mark Edwards www.hardrainproject.com has been documenting climate change for 40 years and all profits go into his education project. Apparently he sent a copy of his book to all world leaders and the one he sent to President George Bush, The White House 1600 Pennsilvania Avenue DC got returned as not known at this address - how fitting is that!
Posted by: Bruce Halai-Carter | Thursday, 18 December 2008 at 11:42 AM
Was the Yasuni UNESCO Reserve saved for the time? What happens to the funds if there is not enough to pay the note?
It's a long way to Texas; news of this sort rarely makes it here.
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Posted by: binge | Wednesday, 07 January 2009 at 04:15 PM
Just asking, but is there a tad more up to date blogging zone in the eco area that I have missed?
I have been linking to relevant MSM sites from my blog, but this appears to be 4 months old!
Posted by: Peter | Saturday, 21 March 2009 at 10:44 AM