Yasuni, continental Ecuador's largest protected area, is host to impressive levels of biodiversity in the heat of the amazon tropical rain forest and also protects part of the waorani nationality territory. Species records demonstrate this biodiversity for various groups of flora and fauna, species never before registered in any other protected area. Here we find hundreds of tree species, wide rivers that overflow with the torrential rains, and large animals such as the jaguar, anaconda, and harpy eagle. We also find very small animals such as leoncillo or pocket monkey, the smallest primate in the world, and a great variety of reptiles and amphibians that make this park among the most bio-diverse in the world.

The human side of Yasuni is also full of surprises. Dwelling within the park are the tagaeri and taromenane, voluntarily isolated indigenous communities. To protect them and the biodiversity within Yasuni, in 1999 the Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Area was created. The National Park Yasuni, the intangible area and the adjacent waorani territory were declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1989.