Ecuador Begins Shutting Oil Wells in the Amazon

Ecuador has shut down one well and began dismantling infrastructure in a drilling site in a protected area of the Amazon, a year after Ecuadorians voted in a referendum to end oil drilling in a national park. The Ecuadorian government shut down the Ishpingo B-56 well, one of nearly 250 oil wells in the 43-ITT block in the Yasuni National Park, the country’s Energy and Mines Ministry said this week. In August last year, Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in the protected area of the Amazon that’s home to two uncontacted tribes…