Programme de bourses "Echanges Universitaires"

The non-extraction of crude oil in the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha (ITT) oil fields: Beyond an ecological utopia?

The Example of the Yasuní National Park

The aim of this study is to show the implications of conservation policies in the case of Ecuador, with relation to energy governance. This country is gifted with an extremely rich biological diversity, but it also faces the symptomatic challenges of a developing country: economic growth is a crucial necessity. Since the country relies heavily on oil production for external income generation and the main oilfields are located in fragile ecosystems, a strong tension arises between development and nature conservation.

The focus of this thesis is put on the tensions described above. The Yasuní National Park will be taken as a case study to illustrate and analyze it. This case introduces an additional practical and intellectual challenge: the Eastern region of Ecuador (locally called Oriente) is the homeland of indigenous peoples. They enjoy a particular status, are under special protection and their status as minority groups has thus to be taken into consideration. However, their interests often clash with those of the state and oil companies. This is where an additional category of actors intervenes, environmental NGOs, which supports the indigenous peoples in their struggle for a protected, preserved and healthy environment, even if they might not share the same final goals, as will be exposed later.

In June 2007 the different actors along with their diverse agendas were confronted with a new challenge: the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, presented a proposition for the non-exploitation of the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) oilfield, located in the heart of the Yasuní National Park. 

Considering those facts, the Yasuní case shows an emblematic case of dilemma in which different interests and agendas oppose one another, as reflected by the actors’ respective discourses and worldviews. Consequently, the challenge consists in reducing the gap between the discursive and the practical level. Otherwise, the policies in general, and in this case the conservation policies, will face serious incoherencies.

By applying an actor-oriented approach placed into a framework of political ecology, I analyze the complex relations and interests of the involved actors within the process of energetic governance in order to contribute to a more holistic understanding of choices and discourses made by the protagonists.

Contact

Caroline Imesch
Route de Colovrex 32
1218 Le Grand-Saconnex
E-mail: imeschita@gmail.com

Partners Institutions

North:
Marc Hufty
Professor at the Graduate Institute of Geneva
Rue Rothschild 20
1211 Genève
Suisse
E-mail: Marc.Hufty@graduateinstitute.ch

South:
Guillaume Fontaine
Coordinador de Investigaciones
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales
Calle La Pradera No. E7-174 y Av. Diego Almagro
Casilla: 17-11-06362
Quito
Ecuador
E-mail: gfontaine@flacso.org.ec