The Charles Darwin Foundation and Oceans Finance Company are delighted to announce a strategic partnership aimed at advancing crucial long-term conservation initiatives to enhance resilience to climate change in the archipelago and surrounding areas.

Scalesia forests once thrived on the Galapagos Islands, forming a unique humid ecosystem for plants, insects, giant tortoises and birds. Today, only 1% of the forests’ original distribution remains, with several endemic species, including the Scalesia themselves, struggling to survive. We are working to restore this important habitat and given the rapid rate of forest loss, it is a race against time.

The Charles Darwin Foundation reveals its new mission and launches its 2022 Impact Report during its 52nd General Assembly

Research in the Scalesia forest on Santa Cruz Island revealed more than 200 taxa of parasitoid wasps, compared with only 30 species previously reported for Galapagos. These tiny insects play essential ecological roles and highlight how much remains unknown about the archipelago’s biodiversity and fragile ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean.