Due to restrictions on where people can live, almost everyone in the Galapagos Islands lives in a town. Puerto Ayora, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and Puerto Villamil hold almost the entire population of Galapagos. 

What are the towns in Galapagos like?

Puerto Ayora, began as a small fishing port next to Academy Bay on the island of Santa Cruz, however it is now the largest town on the Islands. As the population grew due to the tourism industry, the town expanded further from the coast as larger hotels bought up the land on the edge of the bay. Today the town has a population of around 15,000 people and has a wide variety of shops and entertainment sites as well as tourist facilities such as hotels and restaurants on the sea front. A new hospital opened in 2006 which serves not only Santa Cruz, but the rest of the islands in the archipelago too. The town now stretches around a kilometre back from the shore with boundaries clearly marking out the limits of the town’s size. Inside these boundaries, the town is a series of numbered ‘calles’ (streets) set out in grids.

Pelicans queuing to scavenge fish from fishermen in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz © Chris Deeney

What problems do the towns face?

The demand for housing has increased rapidly since 1990. While natural volcanic rock and stone are often used by building companies, the design of the buildings and where they are built does not always take the environment into account. Instead the cheapest options are usually used. The expansion of the towns has also seen the slow movement of new houses into natural areas, removing tree and plant coverage.

The demand for housing is increased significantly in recent years © Richard Robinson

Case Study: The Galapagos Sustainable Building Project

As part of work to find ways to reduce the impact of humankind on the Islands and secure a more sustainable future, the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the Charles Darwin Foundation worked together with a pair of professional volunteers passionate about sustainability.

The objective of the Galapagos Sustainable Building Project was to reduce energy and water consumption across the Archipelago. The pair of professional volunteers worked with members of the community, sharing knowledge about how resources can be better used for construction and building improvement. Part of the project involved the rejuvenation of some of the buildings at the Charles Darwin Research Station including the library, which has the largest collection of research documents connected to the Islands in the world, many of which are unique. Future plans for the project include designing and constructing a ‘best practice’ house, which they hope will help to inspire the local community to explore eco-friendly construction methods. The house would  need to integrate a number of water and energy saving design features, as well as being a cost-effective as possible to build.

Construction starts on the library at the Charles Darwin Research Station © Sustainable Buildings Project

The Galapagos is home to over 9,000 species. These are all recorded in the datazone produced by the Charles Darwin Foundation. The list is always growing – despite scientists studying the wildlife on and around Galapagos for three centuries; new species are still being discovered every year.

Introduction to the wildlife of Galapagos

The animal and plant species of Galapagos fit into three categories: native, introduced (often by humans) or endemic meaning that they cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Galapagos is famous for its high number of endemic species such as the Galapagos giant tortoise, marine iguana, daisy trees and the Galapagos penguin. Often, introduced species can present a major threat to native and endemic species.

Use the species index tab or the species hub to discover more wildlife of Galapagos.

On Galapagos, wildlife comes in all shapes and sizes! © Vanessa Green

New discoveries

In 2009, the Galapagos pink iguana (Conolophus rosada) was officially described as a separate species of Galapagos land iguana. There are less than 100 individuals left meaning that they are a critically endangered species.

In 2012, a new species of deep-water catshark was discovered and a new species of gecko was also found on Rabida island, having only previously been known through 5,000 year old fossils.

Variation

The great variety of animal and plant life in Galapagos can be attributed to the wide range of habitats on and around the Islands. Differing habitats across the Archipelago mean that many species have adapted to suit the unique environmental conditions of each island. These continue to change over the life of an island through the process of succession. Discover more about the different habitat zones of Galapagos.

Rabida gecko © Island Conservation

Threat of extinction

On Galapagos, 23 species face extinction or have disappeared already. Currently, the main cause of extinction is human activity which has changed the many ecosystems and environments of Galapagos. For example, land has been cleared for farming so that human food demands can be met.

Threat of extinction is measured by the Red List. Curated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Red List gives each species a rating from ‘Least concern’ to ‘Extinct’, according to the level of risk.