摘要：Ecuador's Yasuní Man and the Biosphere Reserve—located at the intersection of the
Amazon, the Andes mountains, and the equator—is home to extraordinary biodiversity and
a recently contacted Amazonian indigenous group known as the Waorani (or Huaorani).
Relatives of the Waorani, the Tagaeri and Taromenane, still live in voluntary
isolation deep in the reserve, with no peaceful contact with the outside world.
The Yasuní Biosphere Reserve also sits atop large reserves of crude oil, Ecuador's
chief export, and contains an abundance of valuable timber species. This volatile
combination has led to intense conflicts, and subsequently, increased international
interest and concern. To make the issues confronting Yasuní more accessible to a
growing audience of interested parties, we synthesized information on the biological,
social, and political issues of the region, providing a concise overview of its modern
history and conservation challenges. We constructed a chronology of key events in
the Yasuní region over the past century and a series of maps designed to guide
readers to a better understanding of the area's complicated array of overlapping
designations. Main topics of analysis and discussion include: the Waorani and
their ancestors living in voluntary isolation, Yasuní National Park, illegal logging,
missionary impacts, oil-development-related impacts and conflicts, and the Ecuadorian
government's innovative Yasuní-ITT Initiative (ITT: Ishpingo–Tiputini–Tambococha).
