QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuadorean Vice President Lenin  Moreno said yesterday he will travel to Iran, Turkey and  Dubai next month to pitch a plan for protecting the Amazon  region by leaving 850 million barrels of oil underground.

Under the Yasuni initiative, OPEC-member Ecuador is looking  to donor countries to pay it millions of dollars a year in  return for not drilling in the area.

The government says not touching the oil, valued at about  $6 billion, would avoid creating 410 million tonnes of carbon  dioxide.

“We will be in Iran, Dubai and Turkey to ask for support  for the initiative,” Moreno said during a televised address.  “We are going to go forward with this project.”

Ecuador has been in talks with potential donor countries  such as Germany, Belgium and Spain. But the Yasuni pact has  proven difficult to negotiate.

Former foreign minister Fander Falconi, who had been in  charge of the talks, quit last month after leftist President  Rafael Correa said he was not properly handling the project.