Ecuador has approved plans for oil production in untouched parts of the Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest, abandoning plans to accept payment not to drill there. President Rafael Correa said the nation had no choice but to go ahead, as wealthy nations have yet to back his conservation plan. Hundreds gathered in Quito to protest Correa's announcement, which will open up drilling to one of the most biodiverse sites in the world, but Correa said that, with only $13 million raised so far of a planned $3.6 billion, he had no other option but to abandon the fund as "the world has failed us." He added that "it was not charity that we sought from the international community, but co-responsibility in the face of climate change." Oil is Ecuador's main export, and the nation has been drilling in Yasuni since the 1970s. For the full story, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23722204.