Graham Watkins, Executive Director, Charles Darwin Foundation © CDRS

Can the future of Galapagos be different?
The ocean island archipelagos of the world are distinct but in very characteristic ways. Oceanic archipelagos possess odd collections of species as a result of a selective arrival and establishment process. Once established, the species of isolated island archipelagos tend to evolve into new forms. Thus, the species of ocean archipelagos, from Hawaii to Galapagos, share characteristics including how they arrived and established, and once there, how they adapted and survived in the hostile environments they encountered.

The species of island archipelagos are similarly challenged by the effects of human habitation. Among the greatest threats posed by human activity, are invasive species, against which native species tend to have little or no defense, global climate change, and human induced disasters, including pollution events.

Island archipelagos also share similarities in the patterns and consequences of human development. The Galapagos Islands of the future could well resemble other Pacific, Caribbean and Mediterranean islands of the present. Archipelagos that have undergone rapid human population growth face continuing battles (though perhaps lost wars) against invasive species, large hotel developments, ocean-going liners, the inequitable distribution of economic benefits, and the extinction of the majority of its unique native species. Ironically, in the Galapagos it is the unique native species that draws so many to the islands in the first place; their loss would massively impact the islands’ prosperity.

In Galapagos, the recent rapid increases in human population and flows of visitors have created new development and conservation challenges. Health, education and waste management needs have multiplied, as have the demands for energy and water as the population has outstripped the delivery capacity of public services. Pressures on natural resources have grown as sea cucumbers, groupers, and lobsters have become scarce. Oil spills and pollution events are more frequent. Conflicts are burgeoning as different sectors compete for the same resources. Society is further fragmented by the arrival of new human “lottery ticket holders” who hope to establish their own foothold and to prosper. The expectations of new arrivals are high as they search for job opportunities while forgetting that islands often hold bleak prospects for business development. (Small island businesses are often uncompetitive because they cannot develop economies of scale and the markets are thousands of kilometers away.)

The present development model for the islands appears unsustainable, both for residents and for the islands' unique natural heritage. The problems lay with humans and so must the answers: Galapagos needs strong and stable local institutions that work together to ensure informed decision making for equitable and sustainable development. In order for local organizations to collaborate successfully, they have to first reduce and better manage conflicts over resources and development issues. Local residents are the ones who must create a shared vision: a vision that must incorporate the building of an island culture that understands natural resource limitations; conserves energy, water and essential resources; and creates a local constituency for long-term sustainability.

In this context, the Charles Darwin Foundation is conducting its own exercise in institutional strengthening and strategic planning to adapt to this new environment. We are renewing our commitment to supporting Galapagos institutions to develop sustainable societies in the islands and so guarantee their conservation. Our researchers will continue to carry out quality, integrated research and communicate the results to decision makers and Galapagos constituents in a timely, accurate way through a variety of education and communication programs. We will continue to help build institutional and individual capacities and support actions that link local sustainable livelihoods to conservation action. In working with local people, we hope to help reconcile the desires for island development with the need for long-term conservation.
Our actions alone will be insufficient to secure the conservation of the islands. Equally critical will be the will and efforts of our collaborators including Ecuadorian Government institutions, local community partners, other nongovernmental organizations, and our network of Friends of Galapagos supporters. If we act swiftly and decisively, we can find solutions to prevent the Galapagos Islands from suffering the same fate as other ocean island archipelagos, and help them remain distinctly different in a not so characteristic way.

All my best,

Graham Watkins

More alien species discovered

Reports from invertebrate field studies during the last three months have documented the presence of eight new introduced insects on the islands of San Cristobal and Santa Cruz, raising the total number of alien insect species found in Galapagos to 463, an increase of nearly 60 percent in just seven years.

Among the newly discovered alien species, some are obvious threats. The citrus leaf miner (Phyllocnistis citrella) for example, is a serious pest in some parts of the world. Originally from Southeast Asia, the moth affects mainly young trees and often causes plant death. “Without natural enemies to keep its numbers in check, the leaf miner could threaten citrus crops in Galapagos, as well as native shrubs and plants,” says Lazaro Roque, one of two researchers who found the insect on a farm in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island.

© Bernard Landry The flattened head and the protruding mandibles of the citrus leaf miner are some of the adaptations of the mining lifestyle.

© Bernard Landry The citrus leaf miner female lays her eggs on leaves (and sometimes young shoots) of various citrus and other Rutaceae plants. The larva bores into the leaf and starts mining between the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf, slicing through the cells and eating the juices. The larva goes through 2-3 molts before changing into a chrysalis (pupal) for 6 to 22 days, before the moth emerges.

Also found were four species of dark-winged fungus gnats, two species of parasitic beetle (Rhipiphoridae), and a leaf-mining fly (Agromyzidae). The potential threats of these alien insects to Galapagos biodiversity are unknown. Scientists from the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) were further disappointed to find 13 new introduced species on Daphne Major during a recent three-day collecting trip. The small island’s proximity to the human-populated islands of Baltra and Santa Cruz increases its risk of colonization by alien species.

“Introduced species continue to represent the greatest threat to the fragile Galapagos ecosystem,” says entomologist Charlotte Causton, who heads the invertebrate research and technical assistance programs at the station. “As the level of human activity rises, more introduced species arrive, creating a huge challenge for detection and management programs.”

The best way to mitigate the devastating impacts of introduced species on Galapagos is to prevent their arrival in the first place. In 1999, the station in collaboration with the Galapagos National Park, Galapagos National Institute (locally known as INGALA), Ecuadorian Agricultural Heath Service (known as SESA), and the provincial Agriculture Department - helped create SICGAL, the quarantine and inspection system for Galapagos. CDRS continues to give technical guidance to the program, now run by SESA-Galapagos. Teams of scientists, partnering with SICGAL inspectors and wardens from the Park, track new introductions and plan for the eradication and control of invasive species.

SICGAL inspectors search incoming cargo shipments from boats and airplanes, as well as luggage carried by tourists and residents. Through the Global Environment Facility project Invasive Species in the Galapagos, CDRS provides SICGAL with ongoing training to strengthen the inspectors’ skills. In addition, CDRS have developed informational campaigns to support the work of the inspectors and increase community awareness of SICGAL’s role in maintaining healthy ecosystems in Galapagos.

“SICGAL is the only quarantine system in the world whose primary goal is to conserve biodiversity,” says Causton. “At the same time, it urgently needs resources and technical expertise to tackle the mounting challenges of introduced species.”

	© 2000 Allen Chartier The populations of the Galapagos shearwater, an endemic species of Galapagos, are thriving and the new species is not endangered.

Genetic data from a recent research study indicates the endemic Galapagos shearwater is actually a species in its own right, and not a subspecies of the Audubon shearwater, as had been thought for more than 100 years.

After reviewing the new research, the American Ornithologists' Union's South American Classification Committee officially approved full species status for the Galapagos Shearwater, now known scientifically as Puffinus subalaris. The new genetic data also enabled the committee to recategorize Audubon’s shearwater as a distant relative of the Galapagos shearwater, which is found nowhere else but the Galapagos Archipelago, and recognize the Hawaiian Island seabird Puffinus nativitatis as a close relative.  «source»

Darwin redeemed, potential new species found

Recent efforts by scientists and wardens from the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) and the Galapagos National Park (GNP) to protect one species may have led to the discovery of a new species. Late last year, park warden Jeffreys Málaga was helping to take measurements for a fence to protect a population of endangered Galapagos rock purslane (Calandrinia Galapagosa) from donkeys and goats in the San Cristobal highlands when he noticed a group of unusual Darwin’s asters nearby. Botanists later collected a sample and brought it back to the station. “We realized quickly that this population was different from the common Darwin’s aster found on the island,” says CDRS botanist Alan Tye.

© 2005 Frank J. Sulloway Botanist Alan Tye inspects a population of unusual Darwin’s asters on San Cristobal that was recently discovered by a Galapagos National Park warden.

The new aster population has generated scientific interest for several reasons. First, the plants physically resemble the aster species on Española Island much more closely than the aster species from San Cristobal.

Second, the aster specimens match precisely two historical specimens, one collected by Charles Darwin in 1835 and the other by botanist Alban Stewart, who was part of the California Academy of Sciences expedition to the islands in 1906. Some botanists have suggested that these two preserved specimens of Darwin’s aster were mislabeled (and originated from Española rather than San Cristobal), but in February of this year, CDRS scientists were able to locate the unusual aster using Stewart’s original directions.

“So it seems the old specimens really were from San Cristobal,” says Tye. “CDRS botanists are now looking into whether the newly discovered aster is a new species or simply a variety of the existing San Cristobal species Lecocarpus darwinii.”

Rare Baltra land iguanas are being killed by moving vehicles on the road to the airport, around the military base, and occasionally by aircraft when they wander onto the airstrip, according to scientists at the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS).

The land iguana repatriation and restoration project on Baltra Island is supported by the Ecuadorian Armed Forces, which runs the island’s military base, along with the local environmental police, the Ecuadorian Navy, and the Baltra Airport Authority.

“The park and station have successfully bred and repatriated Galapagos land iguanas to Baltra for 14 years, pulling the population back from the brink of extinction,” says Cruz Márquez, a herpetologist at the station who provides technical assistance to the Galapagos National Park (GNP). “The major hazard to the Galapagos land iguana on Baltra, which is an emblematic species and important to tourism in the islands, is now accidental death from vehicular traffic.”

Unfortunately, the problem is not a new one says Márquez. During the last decade, at least 23 iguanas on Baltra have been killed by vehicles, a significant number given that the current population is estimated at about 200 individuals. In 2002, the station, park and the Ecuadorian Air Force signed a cooperative agreement aimed at reducing the unnecessary mortalities. The collaborative program included the launch of an education campaign targeted at civilian and military personnel, including transport drivers and operators of military vehicles on Baltra Island. The program was effective, but personnel at the military base on Baltra Island change regularly, as do the civilian drivers.

	© Heidi Snell Galapagos land iguanas from Baltra (found on North Seymour in 1979). The Galapagos land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus) is one of two endemic species of land iguana in the islands, and among the largest iguanas in the world. Adult iguanas are extremely vulnerable to human activity.

“The number of vehicles on the road is also increasing rapidly to accommodate tourism growth,” says Marquez. “We need to renew the public awareness campaign targeted at these drivers to help reduce the number of land iguanas killed as the traffic increases, as well as take other actions.”

Márquez says the program would target the drivers that use the island roads, mainly driving to and from the airport and the dock, and encourage them to drive slowly and carefully to avoid running over the land iguanas. Other measures proposed include building speed bumps, and adding signage in the most critical areas of the roads.

Despite the mortalities caused by vehicles, the land iguana population is doing well in Baltra. In February, personnel from the park, station, environmental police, airport authority and the Ecuadorian navy and army, released 44 juvenile Galapagos land iguanas to Baltra Island, bringing the total number of iguanas repatriated to 227.

“Many of the repatriated iguanas are now reproducing successfully in the wild,” says Márquez. “At the same time, the eradication by the park and station of feral cats on Baltra, has also made the iguanas’ habitat safer, allowing the natural population to grow as well.” The challenge now is to make sure Baltra remains safe for this unique Galapagos species.

The History of Land Iguanas on Baltra
The history of the land iguanas of Baltra Island is as unique as the species itself. During World War II, an American airbase was constructed and inhabited by thousands of United States servicemen and Ecuadorian support staff. A combination of heavy traffic, habitat destruction, predation by humans, dogs and cats, and possibly some competition with feral goats, caused one of the fastest known extinctions of a population of reptiles. In 1954, scientists declared the land iguana population extinct.

It was later discovered that scientists aboard an American expedition to Galapagos had moved a population of land iguanas from Baltra Island to North Seymour Island as an experiment in 1932 and 1933. In 1991, the offspring some of these land iguanas were reintroduced to Baltra Island. (The offspring were hatched and raised at the breeding center at the CDRS).

Unfortunately, juvenile iguanas on Baltra Island still faced a serious threat to their survival from feral cats. To tackle this problem, CDRS and the GNP initiated a cat eradication program on the island in 2001. The program was a resounding success, and no cats have been reported on Baltra in several monitoring trips to the island in 2004 and 2005. The work of the park and station on Baltra has been supported by the United Nations Foundation and UNESCO, and in cooperation with the local environmental police, Ecuadorian Air Force, Ecuadorian Navy, and the Baltra Airport Authority.

In March, more than 250 children from the islands of San Cristobal, Isabela and Santa Cruz attended vacation camps organized by the station’s Environmental Education Centers in partnership with local municipalities, high school and university students, police, navy, and the Galapagos National Park.

The kids, aged 5 to 12, took part in a variety of fun, hands-on learning activities, going on field trips, carrying out science experiments, or making handicrafts. Other activities included playing games, producing radio spots on conservation issues as well as drawing and dancing.

The camps were held during the school break in February and March, allowing the kids to mix leisure time with learning about the environment and culture of Galapagos. “Vacation camps offer local children a chance to explore and learn about Galapagos while also having lots of fun,” says Sandra Tapia, coordinator of the education center in Santa Cruz.

At the station’s environmental education center in Santa Cruz, children learn about the land and marine world of Galapagos, and take part in talks and hands-on learning activities.		A month of fun-filled activities organized by the local environmental education center culminates with a camping trip to the Sierra Negra Volcano for kids in Isabela.

For nearly 46 years, the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) has collaborated with local organizations toward the conservation and sustainable management of Galapagos. In 2004 and 2005, the Foundation continued to build on these efforts by signing cooperative agreements with three of the four local fishing cooperatives and the National Galapagos Institute (known locally as INGALA), the governmental institution responsible for regional planning and coordination in the islands.

	CDRS personnel work closely with institutions in the local community to seek sustainable solutions to ecological, cultural and socio-economic challenges in the islands.

Individual agreements were signed with the Fish Production Cooperative of Galapagos in Santa Cruz, the San Cristóbal Artisanal Fishery Production Cooperative, and the Cooperative for the Production of Artisanal Fishery Seafood Products, also on San Cristobal Island. The goal of the agreements is to support institutional strengthening of the cooperatives toward the sustainable management of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Specifically, CDF will assist the cooperatives in institutional strengthening, strategic planning, internal and external communications, and, identifying economic alternatives for the fishing sector, working with other partners.

“The agreements signal a move toward greater cooperation between the stakeholders of the Galapagos Marine Reserve that is based on dialogue and collaborative decision-making to help find the best ways to protect the reserve,” says Graham Watkins, CDF”s executive director. “The Foundation is committed to working with the local community and searching for solutions to the socio-economic challenges faced by the fishing sector.”

As the planning and coordinating body of the Galapagos Province, INGALA is one of the most important institutions in the islands. The recent agreement signed between INGALA and CDF sets forth several areas for cooperation in the future including communications, technical assistance and training programs, among others. “This agreement represents the collective will of both CDF and INGALA to strive to assure the well-being of Galapagos and its residents,” says Watkins.

Santa Cruz Mayor Leopoldo Buchelli announces the new Inter-institutional Committee for the Control and Management of Introduced Species for Santa Cruz at the opening ceremony in March.

The formation of a new multi-institutional committee to tackle the threat of introduced species in residential areas of Santa Cruz Island was announced on March 18 in Puerto Ayora. The community-based committee, known as the Inter-institutional Committee for the Control and Management of Introduced Species, brings together governmental and non-governmental groups around invasive species issues. The committee, one of three in the inhabited islands, will develop projects to help stem the tide of invasive species and raise awareness among citizens about the benefits to the community of controlling invasive pest species.

Members of the committee include volunteer representatives of the municipal government, Galapagos National Park, CDF, the Ecuadorian Agricultural Health Services and other local institutions. CDRS actively participates in planning and executing CIMEI projects, including public awareness campaigns carried out by the committee to encourage conservation-oriented actions. The campaigns emphasize the benefits of the control of introduced species in improving the quality of life of residents while supporting conservation of Galapagos flora and fauna. The news of the committee’s launch was widely-publicized to the local community through a variety of press releases, and radio and television announcements.

Ecuadorian Eugenia M. del Pino Veintimilla, a member of the Charles Darwin Foundation’s (CDF) general assembly, will receive a TWAS Medal Lecture 2005 Award in November from the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the advancement of sciences.

© 2005 Dr. Eugenia M. del Pino Veintimilla

We offer our warmest congratulations to Dr. del Pino on her award, one of many honors she has received during her distinguished career,” says Peter Kramer, president of CDF. “Her research on the reproduction and development physiology of the marsupial tree frogs of Ecuador has made significant contributions to the field of vertebrate development.”

Del Pino, a professor of biology and head of research in developmental biology at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, has collaborated with the CDF for more than 30 years. She served as vice-president from 1992 to 1996 and is now a member of its general assembly. Del Pino also helped establish a scholarship program at the Charles Darwin Research Station to train students in research methodology.

“I derive a great deal of satisfaction from my association with young students at the university and from my scientific work with marsupial frogs,” says del Pino. “It also brings me great satisfaction to be associated with the protection of a unique spot on Earth, the Galapagos Islands.”

Among the many awards and honors del Pino received is the Sheth Distinguished International Alumni Award from Emory University which recognizes alumni who have achieved international recognition. In 2000, she was awarded the prestigious L´Oreal/UNESCO Award for Women in Science for Latin America and the Caribbean in recognition of research in the life sciences. She was one of five women chosen from five geographical regions to receive an award, which is given out every two years.

Throughout her career, del Pino’s work has been published in international journals such as Nature and Scientific American. In addition, she was elected to the Latin American Academy of Sciences in 1987 and to TWAS in 1989, the only Ecuadorian citizen to be elected to these academies to date.

Del Pino has inspired many young Ecuadorian scientists through her teaching and her accomplishments. “When I think about what women have accomplished during the last several decades, the achievements of Dr. Eugenia del Pino inevitably stand out,” says Alizon Llerena an associate researcher in the herpetology program at the station. “She is a shining example of what Latin American women can achieve, and I am proud to follow in her footsteps in the world of science.”

Undoubtedly, del Pino will continue to lead scientific advancements in her field at the national and international level. “We look forward to celebrating Dr. del Pino’s future successes and to continuing to work together toward the conservation of Galapagos,” says Kramer.