Ecuador 's government should expedite the closure of the approximately 240 oil wells operating in the heart of Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest, Human Rights Watch said today.
On August 20, 2023, the Ecuadorian people voted to halt all current and future oil drilling in the Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini (ITT) block of Yasuni National Park, one of the most intact sections remaining in the Amazon River Basin. The historic referendum came after decades of organizing led by a coalition of Indigenous peoples, youth, and activists from across the country. Two years later, though, extraction continues, and only a handful of the block's approximately 240 wells have been closed.
"The Ecuadorian government's decision to maintain oil production for the next five years in Yasuni National Park ignores the 2023 referendum result, which directly impacts the rights of the peoples who live in the park and all Ecuadorians," said Richard Pearshouse, environment and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should respect the will of the Ecuadorian people and immediately end oil extraction in the area protected by the referendum."
Yasuni National Park is home to Indigenous peoples, including the Waorani and Kichwa as well as the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples, who live in voluntary isolation. Human Rights Watch has documented how fossil fuel production, which drives catastrophic climate change, harms the rights of communities adjacent to fossil fuel infrastructure.
Even before the vote, in May 2023, Ecuador's Constitutional Court held that, if voters approved the referendum, the government had to immediately halt oil extraction and shut down all wells by August 31, 2024. In September 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that continued operation of the oil block violated the rights of the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples and ordered the state to close the block by March 2026.
Publicly available reports vary somewhat on the small number of wells that have been closed since the referendum result. The government says it closed five wells in 2024, while media reports say that the government closed 10 wells in 2024 and plans to close another 48 in 2025.
Yet the overwhelming majority of wells in the block are still pumping oil. According to state data, in the first half of 2025 roughly 44,000 oil barrels were extracted daily in the block. The nearly 240 wells in the ITT area are a small fraction of the country's estimated 5,000 wells.
A group of Ecuadorian economists has suggested practical steps to close the block without harming communities, the environment, and the economy. Waorani leaders have proposed a set of principles for a rights-respecting closure.
The government had cited the country's security crisis to justify pausing compliance until at least August 2025 and claims it might need five years to close the block, far beyond court-ordered timelines.
In May 2024, President Daniel Noboa created a committee to plan the closure; this committee has been criticized by civil society and Indigenous peoples for omitting their participation. More than a year later, the government has yet to develop a plan to shut down the rest of the wells in the ITT block.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights recently confirmed that governments must set binding, time-bound greenhouse gas emission reductions from fossil fuels and protect the Amazon rainforest.
Ecuador should stop extracting oil in the Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini block and adopt and implement an expedited and rights-respecting plan to close the wells. It should also ensure Indigenous representation and participation in the committee established to plan the closure.
Regional leaders are meeting in Colombia on August 22, 2025, at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization summit to commit to higher rainforest protection in the lead up to global climate talks. Heads of state, including Ecuador's president, should commit to pursuing similar measures across the Amazon that protect Indigenous peoples and critical ecosystems from fossil fuels.
"Ecuador has a clear obligation to begin to phase out fossil fuels in a way that respects the will of its people, the courts, and the human rights of affected communities," Pearshouse said. "Complying with the referendum by closing the wells is long overdue."
