Truly "partners in conservation", CDF and the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) work hand in hand to conserve Galapagos. GNPS management of the land and surrounding seas offers a laboratory for CDF studies due to the resulting low level of human variables that could compromise sound scientific research. In turn, CDF is the key scientific advisor to GNPS, enabling it to carry out its conservation mission.
CDF contributed greatly to the GNP Management Plan, published in 2006. CDF’s conservation research and technical assistance programs are directly linked to the GNP Management Plan and will help support many critical GNP programs such as:
- Eco-regional monitoring of ecosystems and biodiversity
- Management of environmental information
- Participatory management of the marine ecosystem
- Environmental management in urban and rural areas
- Sustainable artisanal fisheries
- Development of public use and sustainable tourism
- Capacity building for Galapagos residents
- Developing environmental education and interpretation
- Strengthening culture, education, sports, recreation, science and technology.
Galapagos National Park
The decades of research at the Charles Darwin Research Station simply could not have produced such high quality results without the Galapagos National Park Service. The first Ecuadorian natural national park created in 1959 by executive decree encompasses 97% of the land in Galapagos. Then in 1968, the Administration of the GNPS started with the arrival of the first 2 officials from the forest service of the Ministry of Agriculture.
In March 1998, Ecuador created one of the world’s largest protected areas: the 133,0002 kilometer / 51,351.592 mile Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) that surrounds the archipelago. This created a new opportunity for CDF to study the marine ecosystem that is fundamentally linked to the land.
Both these areas are managed by the GNPS. It protects, conserves and manages the Archipelago ecosystems and their biological diversity for the benefit of humanity, local populations, science and education.