Ecuador pledges no oil drilling in Amazon reserve

[Robbien]

Source: BBC

Ecuador has agreed to refrain from drilling for oil in a pristine Amazon rainforest reserve in return for up to $3.6bn (£2.26bn) in payments from rich countries.

Under a pioneering agreement signed with the United Nations, the oilfields under the Yasuni reserve will remain untapped for at least a decade.

The money is about half of what Ecuador would make by selling the oil.

The Yasuni reserve is one of the most biodiverse regions on earth.

Measuring 10,000 square km, it supports a huge variety of wildlife, incuding uniques species of birds, moneys and amphibians.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10861415

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Now this is the type of foreign aid I can get behind. Much better than the usual US foreign aid which mainly goes to develop military capabilities.

A poor nation gets money, the world gets less carbon. And wildlife gets to keep their home.

[Robbien]

1. This is a good news thread. I'm kicking it myself so more will see it

There's so little good news these days.

[Arctic Dave]

2. The only way this story could be better is if they said they would use

the money for renewable resource development.