Galapagos: Conservation meets Development

By Nellie Gopaul

For many, the word “biodiversity” conjures up images of lush, dense rainforests, home to rare and exotic animals.  It is a word used in conjunction with those out-of-the-way places where environmental scientists conduct very important research, and other people spend their hard-earned and long-saved tourist dollars.  For others, however, the word “biodiversity” is much more personal - it is the home in which they live, the home whose resources must be capitalized on and depleted in order to provide their living. 

Local residents of the Galapagos Islands understand the above paradox firsthand.  During the past 15 years, the Galapagos Islands, first made famous by Charles Darwin and the evolutionary theories he developed while visiting there, have seen an a dramatic increase in tourism.  According to a 2007 report by the Charles Darwin Foundation, tourism has grown 14 percent each year since 1992. Tourism, which is the main generator of income on this archipelago located 600 miles west of mainland Ecuador, is a very complex topic, comprised of the business, environmental and political sector. 

“Galapagos tourism represents a total value of $418 million, of which $63 million enters the local economy”, according to a 2006 report by Conservation International. That tourism is the main pillar of the Galapagos economy and numerous locals depend on the revenue tourism brings.  Tourism dollars sustain locally-owned businesses, employ guides, support restaurants and bars and purchase locally-made handicrafts in the Galapagos.

Unfortunately, certain problems have arisen as a result of the influx of visitors.  Cruise ships and cargo vessels may unwittingly contain invasive species of plants and animals which eventually take hold in Galapagos’ unique ecosystem.  Currently, The Galapagos Islands have 748 species of introduced plants, compared to its 500 species of native plants.  Roughly 60 percent of 180 endemic plants, plants found nowhere else in the world, are now considered threatened by the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species.  An increase in visitors also means increased demand for fuel, potable water and food. Marine life, such as lobster, sea cucumber and grouper, is dwindling, and at an unsustainable rate. If tourism continues unchecked, the Galapagos Islands are at risk of losing their most precious natural resource:  their incredible biodiversity.

Solutions to the unique challenge of preserving the Galapagos Islands while supporting the important tourism industry must satisfy all sectors involved.  Laws intended to promote or protect one part of the equation sometimes do so to the detriment of another part.  In 1998, for example, a law was passed to enable to Galapagos National Park Service, which began operating in 1968, to protect and conserve the islands and surrounding ocean.  Restrictions were put in place on various fisheries, which made it harder local fisherman to make a living.  “We are not interested in breaking the law,” explains Francisco Otuño, a fisherman on Isabela Island for over 25 years.  “But if you close one area, then open up a different one so that we can make a living.” 

Conservation efforts promoting responsible tourism seem to working, at least in the terms of retaining the archipelago’s natural wonder.  The Galapagos, which are made of five large islands, nine small ones and a variety of large rocks and small inlets, still retain 95 percent of its original biodiversity. And despite centuries of exploration and travel - the first humans were deposited there in 1535 after strong ocean currents carried Bishop Fray Tomas de Berlanga of Panama and his crew on a rather circituitous route from Panama to Peru via the Galapagos Islands - the giant tortoises, lizards, sea lions, penguins and other wildlife still remain unafraid of man.

Long after the first visitors were brought by sail and traded island-grown vegetables with pirates for rum, the Galapagos Islands seem to have taken on almost a mythological status.  No where else in the world do sharks, penguin, sea lions and turtles coexist peaceably in the same waters.  If the Galapagos islands can continue to keep the footprint of the human presence to a minimum, then the world will be able to appreciate its natural beauty for many more years to come. 

NATURALLY ISABELLA

By Nellie Gopaul

Little Henry Pinto had never been so happy to see land. For the past two-and-a-half hours, he had been on a small fishing boat, snuggled up to his father. The seas were exceptionally choppy that day, and many times it seemed as if the 4-year-old wouldn’t be able to continue.  Eventually, the boat approached the pier of a palm-fringed village.  It eased into the dock as three sea lions frolicked past.  Little Henry’s treacherous ride was over.   He had finally reached Isabela Island. 

The long and sometimes arduous journey to Isabela Island in the Galapagos helps explain why it is less frequently visited than some of the other islands.  The least densely populated of all the islands, it is perhaps one of the Galapagos’ best-kept secrets.  Full of unspoiled natural beauty and rarely-seen exotic animals, Isabela rewards its visitors with open arms and pristine beaches. 

Isabela is actually comprised of five sporadically active volcanoes, and remains a relatively unspoiled place to live, work or play.  It has only one real town, Puerto Villamil – where Henry and his family disembarked – with a population of roughly 2,000 people.   Tourism is the backbone of this former fishing village’s economy, and luckily for los Americanos, the U.S. dollar is the currency in Ecuador.

Tourists get their first hint at the natural wonder that is Isabela in the shallow waters of Puerto Villamil’s dock.  Here the Galapagos sea lion, with its playful nature and lack of fear around humans, first makes his appearance. Descended from the California sea lion, the Galapagos sea lion is endemic to the islands and spends its days hunting for fish, playing with other sea lions, posing for passersby, and sneaking up on unsuspecting tourists.  It is not uncommon to catch a glimpse of these lively creatures swimming on their backs in order to thrust their flippers into the air.  This helps regulate their body temperature; as the sun beats down or a breeze circulates cooler air around the exposed flippers, the sea lion can heat or cool itself.  “We were snorkeling near the dock, and the sea lions were swimming all around us,” exclaimed first-time visitor Andrea Raetegui.  “It was really cool.”

For a bit of leisurely sightseeing, vacationers can head to the Galapagos National Park’s Wetlands Preserve, which is the only part of the National Park you can visit without a certified guide. In the wetlands preserve, marine iguanas, white-cheek pintail ducks, yellow warblers and lava lizards search for shelter and sustenance, unfettered by the sounds of human footsteps approaching.  Mangroves help filter the brackish lagoons, and the poisonous Apple tree offers shade to passersby.  Also located in the wetlands preserve is the Arnaldo Tupizo Chaimandan Tortoise Breeding Center.  Visitors can observe caretakers tending to the Galapagos tortoises, from which the islands received their name, and learn more about these unhurried creatures through interactive displays.  Two of the five tortoise species found on Isabela are considered endangered, and the Breeding Center is working hard to change that.

A little farther out, Galapagos penguins, white-tipped sharks, turtles, stingrays, sea lions and snorkelers peacefully occupy the same body of water.  The biggest agitation, according to National Park Guide Daniela Iglesisas, occurs when the sea lions impishly decide to play with anything in its proximity.  They have even been known to take hold of the sharks’ tails with their mouths and jerk the sharks around!  Isabela is one of the better places in the Galapagos to spot the Galapagos Penguin; occasionally seen around other islands, they are most often sighted in and around the waters of Isabela and Fernandina, the only two islands where they breed. 

For a drier outing, the Wall of Tears can prove an excellent half-day adventure.  Outdoorsy types may enjoy the 5-mile bike ride there, but arranging for a taxi is also customary.  Back in the 1940s, shortly after WWII ended, 300 prisoners headed toward Isabela, condemned to a life of backbreaking manual labor.  They slept on a concrete foundation built for the US troops that had been based there during the war and erected several pieces of lumber and tarp to serve as their only protection from the elements.  The prisoners hauled large chunks of rock from the surrounding mountainside, and over time, constructed the first wall for the prison that would eventually house them.  Only that first wall was assembled; the penal colony was closed in 1959, after most of the convicts escaped to somewhere near Panama.  That wall is now named the “Wall of Tears,” since so many men died while working on it.  “What struck me about the Wall,” recalls 20-something Nadia Kijanka, who hails from Coral Springs, Florida, “is how much the Wall relates to the unfinished things we all have in our lives:  an unfinished project, a dropped class, a failed relationship.  We all have our own Wall of Tears that we suffered through but may not have turned out the way we wanted.  But it’s comforting to know that the story still goes on, good or bad, and that you’re remembered for the work that you do.”

The many visitor sites on Isabela provide something to do for the relaxed vacationer, the adventurous sightseer and anyone in between.  Its flora and fauna are like nothing anywhere else on this earth. When little Henry Pinto returns home, he will have more than a protective father to cling to during the bumpy boat ride back to civilization.  He will have memories of a dream come true.  

An Introduction to the Galapagos

 By Andrea Reategui

Approximately 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador exists a chain of islands known as the Galapagos, from their original name of Insulae de los Galopegos, (Islands of the tortoises).

These islands present a treasure chest of evolutionary information for scientists. There are 13 volcanic islands, and each has its own variation of endemic species, some similar to species on other islands, but each unique. Charles Darwin took notice of this detail. Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution by natural selection after he visited this unique archipelago. Simply put, the variations of characteristics in a population of any species is dominated by the characteristics that best adapts to the environment. Because the environment is subject to change, dominating phenotypes, or genetically passed traits, may shift accordingly.

For example, finches seen in the Galapagos have beaks that vary in size. Each finch specializes in eating different types of seeds, something that allows them to coexist. When trees with big seeds are flourishing, finches with large beaks are the most abundant, and finches with medium and small beaks are less abundant. As the seasons shift and trees with smaller seeds begin to flourish, the dominant phenotype shifts to the small-beaked finch, and the finches with large beaks become less abundant. Another example could be seen in the tortoises. Tortoises that feed on higher vegetation have saddle-shaped shells allowing them to reach the higher vegetation. These tortoises would not be able to inhabit the same niche as those which feed on lower vegetation and have dome shaped shells. The saddle shaped shells would be unable to maneuver through the habitat because their shells would get caught on the branches of the underbrush.

The multitude of different tortoises is only the beginning. The wildlife found in the Galapagos is astonishing. One can find a variety of boobys, frigate birds and the famous Darwinian finches. Visitors can approach the iguanas, tortoises, and seals like they can no where else. This may be in part because of the lack of human contact these animals have had or because strict national park regulations that prohibit humans from hunting or otherwise disturbing the animals. The large variety of marine life is a result of a cold upwelling that brings nutrients to the coastal environments of the islands. The animals roaming the waters range from baleen and toothed whales to roughly 750 species of fish, of which about 17 percent are endemic to the Galapagos. This amazing assortment of wild life is part of one the most pristine ecosystems found today.

The Galapagos Islands were established as a National Park by the president of Ecuador. It was a big step in terms of conservation, and one which might help to keep the remaining 95 percent of the archipelago’s species intact. However, the increasing tourism is becoming a gateway for invasive species.

Cruise ships full of tourists can bring larvae of new species in their ballast tanks. Ferries and other boats that come from the mainland bring roaches and rats. Inhabitants bring cats and dogs which get loose and prey on native birds and other animals throughout the islands. As tourism increases so does the need for more diesel, drinking water, and food. If tourism continues to increase, the ecosystems may fall victim to pollution and all the invasive species that get brought over.

The islands play an important role to help widen views on sustainable development and conservations methods that can be applied in other parts of the world. Overall, the Galapagos Islands are a treasure for the world to behold and learn from.