Quick answer: Yasuní’s ITT fields (Block 43) have produced oil since 2016. On August 20, 2023, 58.95% of Ecuadorian voters chose to keep that oil in the ground, and the Constitutional Court gave the state one year to withdraw. By August 2026, Block 43 still produced about 40,000 barrels a day, and Petroecuador’s closure plan runs to 2034.
Updated September 2026 by our local guides in Quito: this opinion piece was written before the 2023 referendum. We kept the original text and added a verified timeline, the referendum result, the state of its implementation in 2025–2026, a few factual corrections and how to visit Yasuní responsibly.
Yasuní and oil: timeline of key facts
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1979 | Yasuní National Park is created. Today it covers about 1,022,736 hectares (roughly 10,200 km²) in Orellana and Pastaza. |
| 1989 | UNESCO declares the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. |
| 1999 | A presidential decree creates the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone to protect peoples in voluntary isolation (the original post says 1998). |
| 2007 | Ecuador launches the Yasuní-ITT Initiative: leave the oil underground in exchange for $3.6 billion in international contributions. |
| August 2013 | President Correa ends the initiative. About $336 million had been pledged and only about $13 million delivered. |
| October 2013 | The National Assembly declares oil in Blocks 31 and 43 of “national interest,” limiting operations to no more than one per thousand (0.1%) of the park’s area, not 1% as the post says. |
| September 2016 | First oil flows from the Tiputini field. Tambococha and later Ishpingo follow. Before the vote, Block 43 produced roughly 55,000 to 60,000 barrels a day. |
| August 20, 2023 | National referendum: 58.95% vote to keep Block 43’s oil in the ground indefinitely. The Constitutional Court orders a progressive withdrawal within one year. |
| September 2024 | Petroecuador begins abandoning wells, after the one-year deadline had passed. |
| December 2025 | 58 of 246 wells abandoned (about 24%). |
| August 2026 | Block 43 still produces about 40,000 barrels a day. Petroecuador’s closure schedule extends to 2034. |
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official position of Community Travel Group.
Yasuní National Park is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, and logically, one of the places with less human per square kilometer compared to the large and deforested cities of the 21st century. The reserve is 9820 square kilometers in size and is located between the provinces of Orellana and Pastaza in Ecuador. But this is only one more fact if what we really want to know is what this territory means to its inhabitants and to humanity. In 1989 UNESCO declared Yasuní “International Biosphere Reserve”, which was expected to protect the territory, but this apparently only motivated the exploration of the human and therefore the inappropriate exploitation of the reserve, oil exploitation that Is done with the knowledge and licenses of the Ecuadorian government.
Yes, it is not a lie what I have just said, but it does not have anything to do with a political matter: in 1998 the Intangible Zone was declared, which included part of the current Yasuní reserve, and was delimited because it was wanted to keep indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation away from the oil fields. Similarly in 2007, the protection commitment was renewed, this time putting the case at the international negotiating table, requesting the developed countries to pay an economic compensation for each year in which the rich oil deposits were not exploited at Ecuador. Six years later? Initiative canceled because developed countries were not interested in keeping that oil in the subsoil but put it on the market.
Due to the precipitous fall of the mobilization of environmentalists and government to protect the reserve, a boycott to the Amazon perpetrated by the developed countries, nowadays one of the three areas to be protected (Tiputini) is already in prosperous production of oil and for this year the second (Tambococha) will be fully operational. Tiputini has a yield of 20,000 barrels of crude a day, you can imagine how much that represents in carbon emissions …
At what point did the international reserves of the biosphere (taking into account the extensive and pompous title in earnest) become active oil exploitation areas? I’m not just talking about the geographic space that the reserve occupies, part of it includes the territory of the Huaorani nation, who are entitled to the extension of land but not any right to the minerals of the subsoil that they have inhabited in their original Amazon, Both the anti-exploitation demonstrations have been unsuccessful since they have no constitutional right to the oil that is just below their feet. There is no right to prevent the bleeding of your own land.
However, on paper, no more than 1% of the protected territory of the reserve shall be operated; It is not a question of throwing blame but of reviewing the facts and start asking us as citizens of the world what our role is so that this kind of things will not continue to happen. It is no longer a secret in the information age that the Amazon is in danger, but the only non-renewable resource is oil? Because when we talk about non-renewable resources we forget all these species (vegetable, animal and spiritual) so biodiverse that they keep in balance in the lung of the world? I do not think we can renew a single (if extinct) of the more than eighty species of bats that are in this reserve (to put a vague example). Nor do I believe that we can justify by the wishes of the “civilized” world the destruction of the forest, of the jungle, and of any manifestation of life on earth.
Bibliography:
- LA SELVA AMAZÓNICA EN PELIGRO POR LA EXPLOTACIÓN PETROLERA
- El Parque Nacional de Yasuní, gran reserva de petróleo y de biodiversidad
- Biosphere Reserve Information
- Arranca explotación petrolera del Yasuní ITT
What happened after the 2023 Yasuní referendum?
It was the first time a country’s voters chose to leave proven oil reserves in the ground, but implementation has been slow. The government set up a committee in May 2024 to carry out the result, and Petroecuador started closing wells in September 2024, after the one-year deadline set by the Constitutional Court had already passed. According to data compiled by the Ecuadorian fact-checking outlet Lupa Media, only 58 of the block’s 246 wells had been abandoned by December 2025, and production was still around 40,000 barrels a day in August 2026. The state oil company’s plan now stretches to 2034. Waorani organizations, YASunidos and other groups have filed non-compliance actions that the Constitutional Court had not resolved as of August 2026 (GK, Human Rights Watch). Note that the vote covers Block 43 only. Other oil blocks inside and around the park, such as Block 31, are not part of it.
How can you visit Yasuní responsibly?
Most trips start in Coca (Puerto Francisco de Orellana), a flight of about 35 minutes or a bus ride of 9 to 10 hours from Quito. From there, motor canoes run down the Napo River to lodges on the park’s northern edge. The most responsible choice is a lodge owned or co-managed by the local Kichwa or Waorani community, such as Napo Wildlife Center, run by the Kichwa Añangu community. That way, your money goes to the people protecting the forest. Never try to enter the Intangible Zone or look for “uncontacted” groups: contact can be deadly for them, and it is prohibited. Choose licensed naturalist guides and never buy wildlife products.
Yasuní lodges are excellent but usually cost several hundred dollars a night. For a budget-friendly Amazon trip, we run tours to Cuyabeno, a reserve in Sucumbíos with blackwater lagoons, pink river dolphins and Siona communities. Read our Cuyabeno vs Yasuní comparison to choose.
Cuyabeno Jungle Tour · from USD 310 pp · 3D/2N, 4D/3N or 5D/4N · departures Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri
Lodge, meals on tour, rubber boots, poncho and a bilingual naturalist guide, with a Siona community visit and a sunset swim in Laguna Grande.
Related guides
- Cuyabeno vs Yasuní: which Amazon reserve should you visit?
- Cuyabeno Amazon tour from Quito: costs and logistics
- The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve and ecotourism
- Tena, Ecuador: whitewater rafting guide
- Ecuador itinerary for 7, 10 or 14 days
Plan it with us
Our office is at Pedro Fermín Cevallos N6-78 y Olmedo, on the edge of Quito’s Old Town, inside Community Hostel. Drop by, message us on WhatsApp at +593 97 953 3832 or write to info@communitytravel.ec, and one of our local guides will help you plan the Amazon part of your trip with current prices and departure dates.
Frequently asked questions
What did Ecuador’s 2023 Yasuní referendum decide?
On August 20, 2023, 58.95% of voters said yes to keeping the crude oil of Block 43, known as ITT (Ishpingo, Tambococha, Tiputini), underground indefinitely. The Constitutional Court ordered the state to withdraw oil activity progressively within one year of the result being made official and to not sign new contracts. The vote applies to Block 43 only, not to every oil block in Yasuní.
Is oil still being extracted in Yasuní in 2026?
Yes. In August 2026, Block 43 still produced about 40,000 barrels a day, down from around 55,000 to 60,000 before the vote. Petroecuador began abandoning wells in September 2024 and had closed 58 of 246 by December 2025. Its plan extends the full closure to 2034, and non-compliance actions are pending before the Constitutional Court.
What was the Yasuní-ITT Initiative?
Launched in 2007, it proposed that Ecuador would leave the ITT oil untouched if the international community contributed $3.6 billion, about half the oil’s estimated value. By August 2013 only about $336 million had been pledged and roughly $13 million delivered, and President Correa ended the plan. The National Assembly authorized drilling that October, and production began in 2016.
Who lives in Yasuní National Park?
The park overlaps the ancestral territory of the Waorani and borders Kichwa communities along the Napo River. It also shelters the Tagaeri and Taromenane, peoples living in voluntary isolation, for whom a 1999 decree created the Intangible Zone. Under Ecuador’s constitution the state owns subsoil resources, which is why communities cannot veto oil projects on their land.
Can tourists visit Yasuní National Park?
Yes, mainly through lodges on the Napo River reached from Coca, which is a short flight or a 9 to 10 hour bus ride from Quito. Community-owned lodges are the most responsible option. Visitors cannot enter the Intangible Zone. Trips usually last 3 to 5 days and cost more than Cuyabeno tours, which start from $310 for 3 days with us.
