Tangled World

For travellers in a global society

Conservation in the Galapagos Islands

       

In 1998 Ecuador’s largest tour operator and conservation-in-tourism pioneer, Metropolitan Touring, established Fundación Galápagos-Ecuador. This is the first ever initiative by tourism’s private sector for helping the Galápagos Islands to preserve its fragile island ecosystems. Its mission started as, and continues to be, waste management of the islands, particularly Santa Cruz Island where most inhabitants reside. If we think of a sensible way of acting upon current realities of the islands, it is the presence of humans that need the most actions and awareness. A clean and well-managed environment, can assure a better handling of the present situation, allowing future generations to enjoy the Galapagos Islands.

Currently, they concentrate ther efforts in four major aspects of the islands:

Environmental Education: volunteers conduct a local door-to-door campaign that teaches locals the benefits of classifying and recycling garbage. Local radio and TV campaigns are also a common practice. Additionally, local students are invited to join our expedition voyages for a better understanding of the islands’ complex ecosystems; in 2008 they took 48 students from local schools. These experiences gave them a broad perspective of the archipelago’s importance, while providing them with solid background for making the right future decisions.

Solid-waste Recycling: on Santa Cruz Island, and in cooperation with the Municipality of Santa Cruz Island and the Galapagos National Park, they developed the Fabricio Valverde Center for managing solid waste. Here, plastics and cardboard are compacted and shipped back to the mainland for reprocessing and remanufacturing. Also, glass is milled and then becomes material for making patio blocks that now cover parks and sidewalks on the island. As of November 2008, over 2.8 million pounds of solid waste have been already recycled at this facility, and these were never part of the local landfill.

Coastal Clean-Up: the shores of the islands become the ending trip for floating debris unfortunately discarded in the ocean hundreds of miles away from here. With local fishermen and volunteers, we recollect these materials and process them at the recycling facility. So far, over 130,000 pounds of solid debris have been collected from the islands’ shores. As part of the project, fishermen receive an economic incentive which allows them to leave fishing activities and connects them with natural resources protection.

Galápagos Community Social Projects: The social component is a priority under the umbrella of sustainability. Thus, it is important to get involved directly with the local community, and contribute to their well being and their income generation. If we believe in the local community’s improvement, we must incorporate them in a business scenario. Entrepreneurship with environmental attributes is what they promote in the local community.

Currently, two projects are key at providing a sustainable future for the local community. One, FUN Galapagos, which involves a local women’s cooperative: Manos Mágicas. Women, with great sewing skills and motivated to improve the quality of the islands, as well as improving their own quality of life, make Galapagos’-related rag souvenirs filled with milled plastics from the recycling centre. Sales of these support the project itself.

Another project that they are supporting is “Bread for the Future”, a local bakery where fishermen’s wives, that belong to the women’s cooperative Perla del Pacífico, produce and supply the bread needs from tour vessels. This direct contribution to the project is transferring bread needs to them, and now the ships serve Galapagos bread including brioche, ciabatta, rolls, baguette, and more. This initiative was launched by ASOGAL, the Association of Galápagos Tour Operators.

None of these efforts make sense if sustainability matters are not addressed to guests on board Galapagos yachts. These contributions are shared with passengers on Galapagos yachts used by Metropolitan, the islands’ realities, and a clear message on how sustainability works. It is critical that visitors to the islands realize tourism is responsible for generating some impact, but this impact is being carefully managed, and it unfolds into a positive one. This alone will make them aware their travel choice has made a difference.