One of the greatest environmental disasters of the last century and which continues to this day, is the contamination and development of the rainforests of the Ecuadorean Amazon, called the Oriente.

Oil was discovered under the rainforests of the Oriente in the 1960. Drilling began in the 1970s by the American company Texaco. Over the 28 years Texaco operated the oil infrastructure of Ecuador, over 17 million gallons of crude oil were spilled from the main pipeline alone.

For more information on the mess Texaco created and what organizations are attempting to do about it, click here.