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Preserving What's Special About the Galapagos Islands
Last August, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Ecuador with the Sierra Club and learn firsthand how population growth affects the environment. We visited three indigenous, poor and rural communities that are working with two organizations (World Neighbors and CEMOPLAF) to learn about sustainable farming and family planning. As a result, the environment is improving and communities are able to produce more food. Plus, the families are smaller and healthier.
The Galapagos consist of 13 islands that are about 3.5 million years old. The islands are the tips of underwater volcanoes. They are home to 5,000 species, 1,900 of which are endemic (found nowhere else on earth). 32 percent of the plants, 50 percent of the birds, 50 percent of the shore fish and insects and 90 percent of the reptiles are adapted so specifically to the Galapagos Islands that they hardly resemble their original mainland ancestors. Little wonder why Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution when on the Galapagos. We visited one or two islands each day and saw a diversity of bird species, including blue-footed, red-footed and masked boobies. We saw sea lions, iguanas, lava lizards, crabs, flamingos, frigate birds, yellow-crowned night herons, Galapagos hawks, waved albatross, swallow-tailed gulls, pelicans, mockingbirds and – of course – giant tortoises.
Like most places on Earth, the Galapagos is experiencing human impact on the environment. People live on four of the islands, and there is a 10-percent annual immigration rate. Many Ecuadorians are attracted to the islands because of tourism, which can supply more lucrative careers than the mainland can in many cases. Settlers and visitors have brought animals and plants with them to the Galapagos, and this is the single biggest threat to the islands' ecosystems. Only two of the major islands are free of exotic species, while the animals and plants on the rest of the islands are defenseless against the introduced species. Two introduced species that are wreaking havoc are rats and goats. Rats multiply rapidly and prey on giant tortoise babies. Goats also reproduce quickly and eat almost anything, including the native plants. This leaves nothing for the native animals to eat and causes erosion. The Ministry of the Environment, the Ecuadorian National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Center are having difficulty eradicating introduced species because any action impacts the entire ecosystem. For example, poisoning could kill native species, as well as the targeted species. There is hope, however. Some efforts have been effective in eliminating rats and goats from a few small islands. It's ironic that the very reason why so many people visit the islands could destroy them as a result. To be that close to wild animals in a natural setting is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hopefully, with the help of education and science, human impacts will be minimized and this natural wonderland will be preserved so that many more generations can experience what true wildlife and evolution look like.
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By Laura Kelnhofer
Most of the activists who went to Ecuador chose to go on an optional four-day cruise in the Galapagos Islands after the first part of the trip. Because of a friend's wonderful knack of persuasion, I was one of the people who decided to visit the archipelago – an amazing place where most of the land is unmodified by humans and where the animals look at you without fear, like you're just another being in the wild. 50,000 to 60,000 people visit the islands each year and it's easy to see why.
We were able to get incredibly close to the animals. The birds and the sea lions were having babies when we were there, so we had the opportunity to see masked boobies mating, fuzzy baby birds snuggling in their nests and baby sea lions nursing and frolicking like puppies. When we arrived at one island, we saw a sea lion that had given birth just hours before. The mother, baby and placenta were all there in front of us. It was such a beautiful, touching moment to be so close to such an amazing event in nature.