Demonstrators present petition to save Yasuni reserve An Ecuadorian environmental group presents a petition with hundreds of thousands of signatures supporting an abstention from exploiting oil in the Yasuni reserve in the Amazon. President Rafael Correa proposed the voluntary abstention in exchange for compensation from the international community to the tune of $3.6 billion, or about half the value of the estimated reserves in the protected area, by 2023. Images and soundbites.