Uncontacted tribes AND biodiversity
Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in a protected area of the Amazon, an important decision that will require the state oil company to end its operations in a region that’s home to two uncontacted tribes and is a hotspot of biodiversity.
Yasuni National Park is inhabited by the Tagaeri and Taromenani, who live in self-isolation. In 1989, it was designated a world biosphere reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO. Encompassing a surface area of over 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres), it boasts 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians, and 121 species of reptiles. At least three species are endemic.
Rock on birds and amphibians and reptiles.
H/t Anna
Finally. Some good news.
What great news! I often struggle to get numbers into context so using the UK’s favourite unit of measurement – that’s an area about half the size of Wales. We have five of the UK’s six reptile species and six of the seven amphibian species. The British Ornithological Society reckons there are 220 regularly occuring species of birds in Wales, but if you want to really stretch the number, Wikipedia lists 463 species of birds ever recorded including “accidental” ones, blown in on a storm or whatever. Which I guess is like counting walruses as one of the species in Wales, just because there was that one that had a six week holiday in Tenby.