Down in Ecuador, there is a 675-square-mile section of the Yasuni National Park called the ITT reserve. The reserve is an ecological treasure-trove, with the most diverse wildlife in the world and more varieties of trees than there are in all of North America.

It also has oil, but even as oil companies itch to build their derricks, the Ecuadorean government (which is so strongly invested in oil that it is this year's president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) has come up with an innovative plan to save the reserve. It has established a trust fund to hold donations from rich nations for Ecuador to refrain from drilling.

Germany has signed on, with a promise of $50 million a year for the next 12 years. All in all, Ecuador is asking for $3.6 billion to hold back the drills, which is about half of what it would expect in proceeds from oil.

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