With over 150,000 tourists visiting each year, the Galapagos Islands have become a very attractive holiday destination. What impacts do all these visitors have and how can they continue to visit the islands without destroying them too?

Managing Ecotourism in Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands have been keen to promote ecotourism and the Galapagos National Park is at the forefront of developing this. They have introduced a number of changes to the way the Islands manage tourism.

• Setting ‘carrying capacity ’ limits for different sites and restricting the number of visitors allowed in some areas. Only a certain number of visitors are allowed at a site at one time and the National Park Authority can reduce the number of tourists who are able to visit a site if they think it is getting damaged.
• Planning boat routes so that areas are not overwhelmed by visitors at any one time. The National Park has final control over the cruise lines’ (and indeed smaller local enterprises’) tour routes around the islands as a way of managing the possible damage tourists could cause.
• Introducing entrance fees for visitors to the National Park. These fund conservation projects within the Park. You can find learn more about the entrance fees by clicking here to visit the Impacts of Tourism page.
• Creating a ruling that no tourist is allowed to explore the islands independently. A guide is required for each small group that is exploring a particular site who educates the visitors and protects the sites.
• Developing educational opportunities for visitors and local people. The Galapagos National Park Interpretation Centre on San Cristobal has displays on the island’s biodiversity and cultural history. The Charles Darwin Research Station also acts as an educational resource base for tourists.
• Requiring boat licenses. These have now come into place for both tour operators and for fishing boats and helps the Marine Reserve police the waters far more carefully.
• Establishing urban development zones. Specific areas have been set up for urban development and clearer rules are in place about where tourism based building (such as a new hotel) can occur.

The Galapagos Islands are rapidly changing and it is becoming more important that sustainable solutions to the issues that these changes raise are found.

Land zoning in Galapagos

Isolation is the key to the special nature of the Galapagos archipelago. Because human colonisation in Galapagos did not occur until relatively recently compared to the majority of the rest of the world, the unique ecosystems have been preserved and species have survived. However, population increase and urban expansion means that land zoning of areas for human use and rules for the use of the zones has become necessary.

Prior to 1959, the protected areas and unprotected areas were considered to be completely seperate and not connected. There was no real difference in the management of the human and natural space. When the Galapagos National Park was established in 1959, 97% of the Islands were declared protected natural areas. The remaining 3% of the land is used by Galapagos communities (both rural and urban). The new zoning model recognises that hazards such as invasive species and pollution come from populated areas and that the populated areas depend on the unique ecosystems and their conservation, demonstrating the interconnectedness of the zones.

Why do small islands face unique challenges?

The Galapagos Islands share common problems with many other islands around the world. One of these problems for the future is climate change. Locations like Galapagos are more vulnerable to climate change due to their isolation, their reliance on the sea for income and the shape of their land which can be low-lying and susceptible to rising sea levels. There are a number of ways that locations like Galapagos can try to protect themselves from such issues:

• Mitigation is where action is taken that will make an outcome less severe. For example, in a residential area that may be affected by rising sea levels, a sea wall or permanent fixture might be built to protect the homes from floods.
• Adaptation is where change might be unstoppable, but action is taken to help us survive the change. For example in the same residential area affect by rising sea levels, homes can be raised up on ‘stilts’ so that flood water does not damage people’s homes.

Houses on stilts in Nueva Venecia, Colombia © Augusto Sisa

Case Study: The Galapagos and Climate Change

An impact assessment carried out by the Galapagos National Park and a variety of NGOs found that there were six ways in which the Galapagos Islands would be vulnerable to climate change in the future:

1. Warmer sea temperatures.
2. Greater intensity of El Niño and La Niña events (more extreme weather).
3. A rise in sea level.
4. Increased precipitation.
5. A more acidic ocean.
6. A reduction in the cold water current upwelling which brings nutrients to the ocean surface.