Galapagos Islands 'facing crisis'

Source: BBC

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Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has declared the Galapagos Islands, home to dozens of endangered species, at risk and a national priority for action.

The islands, Ecuador's top tourist draw, were suffering an environmental and social crisis, he said.

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The Galapagos Islands inspired naturalist Charles Darwin and helped him develop his theory of evolution.

Last month, several rangers of the ecological reserve in the islands clashed with members of the Ecuadorean Armed Forces over what the rangers say was illegal fishing in protected waters.

The incident provoked an outcry in Ecuador as it illustrated for many the practices which are damaging the site.
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However, ecologists say the problems in the Galapagos run much deeper than the government has acknowledged.

They fear that a rapid increase in the human population and the gradual introduction of external species of flora and fauna are threatening the entire ecosystem on the islands.

Representatives of the UN's scientific, educational and cultural body, Unesco, have travelled to their research station on the Galapagos to inspect the state of conservation there.

Last month, a senior Unesco official warned of threats to the "fragile and delicate" ecology of the Galapagos.
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Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6543653.stm

I just watched the special on the National Geographic channel on the Galapagos Islands and I was entranced. I have got to go there some day. What an extraordinary place. We need to preserve it. I will do some research, but is there anything that you know of that can be done?

I do recall seeing one or two organizations that had programs focused on preserving these islands but I have to dig through my info to find them again.

And unfortunately if you want to go I think perhaps you should hurry...but then again that's a bit of the problem too isn't it?

I only need to win the lotto!

I even received a mailing from my dive shop in the mail yesterday and I noticed that the Galapagos are on a future dive trip. This trip is in May of this year and the price is TBA, which translates into $$$! It would be accommodations on a Liveaboat for 7nts. This would be the trip of a lifetime.

Somehow, these adventure sort of trips are so meaningful. I have traveled all over Europe and Mexico, but one of my most enjoyable trips was on a week long rafting trip down the Colorado River to experience the Grand Canyon. You get so much out of being so close and intimate with nature.

Yeah, I will check into those links- thanks a lot.

Just look at the US alone and how many endangered and threatened plants and animals there are. :cry:

We need to get control of human population and the multinationals who think that natural resources are theirs for the taking and exploiting. :grr:

I think perhaps this is the best bet to start looking for where you should send help if you're so inclined:

http://www.darwinfoundation.org/en/about-us/mission

And there is a list here of organizations you might want to contribute too also:
http://www.darwinfoundation.org/en/about-us/donors

the creatures there were almost living in a pure world, completely free of interference and trouble from outside.

So sad to learn that's not nearly the situation.

Hope Ecuador's new President, Rafael Correa can locate the problems, with help, and get things rolling to reverse the damage done by all the years of neglect under the former Presidencies. As it's still near the beginning of his own Presidential term, he got on this situation quickly, which is a good sign.

Who would have known there are approximately 20,000 people living there, for chrissakes? Looking forward to the time we will hear good news about getting the Galapagos healthier.

Thanks for this article.

That, more than likely, most of the species will be dead or extinct due to climate change in about 50 years and in roughly 100 years it will be underwater.

THAT is a tragedy

It's just too awful to think about!

And those weird iquanas! Some really beautiful animals. Hope I'm not still alive to see the destruction.

floated there and then adapted. Giantisim happens when there are no natural predators. Without jumping in on global warming, eventually the system will change.

Those animals did not miracle themselves onto that island.

Most of them rise over 200 ft out of the water, and some are much higher. Isabela is over a mile high.

If so, the Medieval Warming Period about a thousand years ago would have wiped those species out.

The Galapagos are volcanic shield islands, which result from repeated massive flows of highly-fluid basalt coming up from a hotspot under a weak zone of ocean crust. Their shape is reminiscent of an enormous inverted cereal bowl. (The Hawaiian islands are the best known example of this form.) The newest islands, Fernandina and Isabela, are still growing and rising. The islands lift high out of the water (some as much as a couple thousand meters) and will not be drowned by any foreseeable rising sea levels.

The real threat to the islands comes from alien species, both plant and animal. Remember, too, that the 20,000 humans who live there are also aliens, and put large pressures on the islands' habitat.

they already kill goats, cats, rats, and donkeys. The clash seems to be between the island stewards and the national military.

Ecuador's President Vows to Help Galapagos Islands At Risk

QUITO, Ecuador, April 16, 2007 (ENS) – The conservation and environmental management of the Galapagos Islands ecosystem is "at risk and a national priority" due to the anarchy and lack of institutionalization that prevail in the archipelago, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa declared Sunday. The President pledged new protective measures by the end of April.

President Correa signed a decree declaring that the "overlapping of duties, attempts to ride roughshod over others, and politicking that prevail in Galapagos," have put the islands and their unique species at risk. The President promised to put regulations into effect "to overcome the grave institutional, environmental and social crisis that the islands are currently going through."

The Galapagos Islands, in the equatorial Pacific about 1,000 kilometers (650 miles) from the South American coast, are a globally outstanding repository of biodiversity with up to 95 percent of the original pre-human plants and animals remaining.

The islands and surrounding waters are inhabited by giant tortoises, land and marine iguanas, unique finches, and the only penguin species which lives in tropical waters. Sea lions and fur seals are found around the coasts, while dolphins, whales sharks and sea turtles are common.

More:
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2007/2007-04-16-03.asp

:(

http://www.gct.org/adopt.html