Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park is home to one of the most biodiverse concentrations of plant and animal life on Earth. In an historic vote of nearly 60 percent in favor, Ecuadorian citizens chose to stop the development of new oil wells in the park, the country’s National Electoral Commission said.

Approval of the referendum means about 726 million barrels of oil will stay in the ground, reported The Guardian.

The park is also the home of three of the last “uncontacted” Indigenous communities on the planet, the Taromenane, Tagaeri and Dugakaeri people, who live in voluntary isolation, Reuters reported.

By passing the referendum, Ecuador became one of the first nations to vote to restrict the extraction of resources. The measure was passed during the first round of the country’s presidential elections.

“Today is a historic day! As a Waorani woman and mother, I feel overjoyed with Ecuadorians’ resounding decision to stop oil drilling in my people’s sacred homeland,” said Nemonte Nenquimo, an Indigenous […]