There are several reasons to be optimistic about Ending Amazon Crude, and Ecuador is a great example.

A recent court decision revived a case that would force a national vote on whether to maintain the country’s largest fossil fuel reserves underneath Yasuní National Park, a world biosphere reserve and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. It is also home to the Tagaeri and Taromenane, two Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.

When the case was first filed, drilling there had yet to begin, but production is now underway at over 150 wells, with at least 400 more planned. A likely referendum vote later this year in favor of keeping the oil in the ground would restrict drilling, road building, and gas flaring in the most remote part of Yasuní National Park.

Additionally, a decision is expected in 2023 in another case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the impact of drilling and other extractive activities on the Tagaeri-Taromenane peoples and the government’s failure to guarantee their rights. A favorable decision would recognize their territorial rights – a first for isolated peoples – and could redraw the boundaries of a current “no-go zone,” effectively restricting drilling activity in seven oil blocks that overlap Yasuní National Park.