Oil Extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Incorporating Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice

• Author: Nene Kumashe Ugbah,Vijay Ramesh,Ann Marie Hager,James Larson
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21205
• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Date: 01 December 2017

C R Q, vol. 35, no. 2, Winter 2017 243

© 2017 Association for Con ict Resolution and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/crq.21205

Oil Extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon:

Incorporating Con ict Resolution

Theory and Practice

Ann Marie Hager

James Larson

Nene Kumashe Ugbah

Vijay Ramesh

Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park and Biosphere Reserve is one of the

most biodiverse regions in the world; it is home to numerous species of

wildlife, indigenous communities, and approximately $7.6 billion of

crude oil. Oil extraction has led to patterns of environmental and social

damage, situating the government of Ecuador between their respon-

sibilities to uphold indigenous rights and preserve the environment

while advancing the nation’s economy.  e  eld of con ict resolution

o ers applicable strategies to the issues facing this dilemma. However,

these strategies have been sparsely used thus far. We suggest that the

implementation of forums, workshops, and grievance mechanisms will

improve communication between stakeholders and build trust that

could alleviate the con icts in the Yasuní.

Introduction

E cuador’s Yasuní National Park and Biosphere Reserve is one of the

most biodiverse regions in the world (Finer et al. 2009 ).  e region is

also home to millions of gallons of oil underneath its tropical forests. Since

 e authors would like to thank the reviewers for their feedback and Dr. Joshua Fisher for

insight and expertise that critically strengthened this paper.

244 HAGER, LARSON, UGBAH, RAMESH

C R Q • DOI: 10.1002/crq

the turn of the twentieth century, there has been an increase in oil explora-

tion in Ecuador and South America at large, but extractive industries have

not been entirely responsible in their treatment of indigenous peoples and

the surrounding environment. As a result, the ecosystem of the Yasuní has

undergone dramatic changes (Deutsche Welle [DW] 2014 ) and indig-

enous communities have had to adapt their way of life while grappling

with the limited rights a orded to them by the state.  ese dynamics have

led to an increase in con ict, principally among indigenous groups, oil

companies, and the Ecuadorian government. Intervention strategies exist

that could alleviate some of these con icts: forums hosted by an inter-

national coalition, workshops hosted by United Nations agencies, and a

grievance mechanism in the form of the Ecuadorian Ombudsman would

serve to improve communication, foster trust, reduce con ict, and over

time build the infrastructure for sustainable resolutions to be negotiated.

 is article describes the historical factors that have led to con icts

between the extractive industry, indigenous groups, and national gov-

ernments in the Yasuní region of the Ecuadorian Amazon.  e analysis

explores stakeholder needs, interests, positions, and the drivers of con ict

to identify potential entry points where environmental con ict resolution

(ECR) could alleviate tensions. Intervention strategies, grounded in case

study research, are subsequently proposed to show the ways in which con-

 ict resolution theory and practice can be applied to this case. Without

con ict resolution mechanisms that ful ll stakeholder needs, actors make

choices that adversely a ect their socioenvironmental situation in the long

term. ECR mechanisms are particularly salient in this situation because

many of them already exist, but are often not used in an interdisciplinary

manner, as is attempted here.

Background and Context

Environmental con ict related to oil in the Amazon began with the indus-

trial revolution and subsequent proliferation of the automobile as a primary

mode of transportation in the developed world (Vasquez 2014 ). Since the

industrial revolution, world population has risen signi cantly and national

economies have become globalized.  is has led to higher standards of

living across the globe. As a result, the hunt for cheap oil has been and

continues to be at the forefront of many companies’ agendas.  e 1800s

saw large oil conglomerates like Standard Oil (today’s ExxonMobil), Royal