Yasuni National Park, Ecuador: An Amphibian Eden

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:28:11 +0000

Yasuni National Park, courtesy UTNE.com

Scientists have recently identified Yasuni National Park in Ecuador as one of the most biologically diverse places in South America, and perhaps on earth. As Shawn McCracken of Texas State University—San Marcos, recently said, “The 150 amphibian species throughout Yasuni is a world record for an area this size. There are more species of frogs and toads within Yasuni than are native to the United States and Canada combined.”

Unfortunately this Eden sits on oil reserves and is threatened by proposed oil development projects. McCracken and other scientists from Ecuador, the United States, and Europe have proposed a moratorium on new oil exploration until the effects of such projects can be explored.

Reading about this, we couldn’t help but think about the movie Avatar and the attempted destruction of the planet Pandora to mine unobtanium. Unfortunately, we humans aren’t as wise as the Na’vi—yet. Let’s hope that Ecuador will preserve this incredible pocket of biodiversity and not be so shortsighted as to destroy parts of it for oil.

Here is more information from Save the Frogs and the Environmental News Service.

Frogs Are Green » Pandora

Yasuni National Park, Ecuador: An Amphibian Eden