Ecuador: Daryl Hannah joins oil protest

QUITO, Ecuador, June 6 (UPI) -- American actress Daryl Hannah has joined the ranks of Ecuadorian protesters demonstrating against the destruction of the Amazon for oil exploration.

Hannah, 46, is part of a movement in the South American country that is demanding redress for rainforest inhabitants, Britain's Independent newspaper reported Wednesday.

Protesters contend that U.S. oil companies like Texaco, Chevron and others are responsible for polluting some some 2.5 million acres of rainforest for three decades starting in the 1960s.

Hannah -- an ardent environmentalist -- visited a photo exhibition in Quito chronicling the destruction of the Ecuadorian Amazon where the foreign firms drilled for oil.