CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION NEWS BULLETIN
In a two week monitoring trip in early February following a recent eradication campaign, no signs of cats were detected which - if proven correct in future inspections - is fantastic news for the Baltra Island land iguanas. After being reintroduced from a tiny remnant population on nearby
Seymour, these magnificent reptiles will be able to breed safely in their natural homeland for the first time in more than half a century.
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A project is under consideration to install three wind generators in the highlands of San Cristobal Island, which could reduce the current consumption of diesel for power generation by 60%. CDRS scientists are evaluating potential environmental factors, which could include bird strikes, noise pollution and other factors before the project goes ahead.
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With two helicopters now in full field operations (see Helicopters Start Flying) the Isabela Project offered a team of CDRS botanists the unique opportunity to explore hard-to-reach locations in the heartland of Santiago, adding 120 new healthy Scalesia atracteloides (subsp. darwini) plants to the previous counts of this critically endangered species. A new population of the even scarcer Santiago shrub snapdragon Galvezia leucocantha (subsp. porphyrantha), with only 80 surviving individuals at last count, was also spotted high on a crater wall. In just five days of flying, this cooperative venture has provided a quantum leap in our knowledge of rare plants, boosting our ability to protect them.
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Twenty children aged 7 to 10 on Isabela Island and 100 youngsters from 6 to 12 years old on Santa Cruz Island took part in summer camps highlighting awareness of their natural environment, centered on the Galapagos Marine Reserve and other themes. The Galapagos National Park and local
municipalities were partners in these projects.
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Compiling six years of work of the Fisheries Monitoring and Research
Program, the CDRS Marine Department has produced a publication entitled "Fisheries Evaluation in the Galapagos Marine Reserve". This was presented to
the Galapagos National Park administration to aid in the management decisions of the Participatory Management System for the Galapagos Marine Reserve.
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Over the past two months, around 35 local and 20 US students in fifth and sixth grade joined in a weeklong educational beach camp to learn and participate in nesting sea turtle research. The program, Ecology Project International, supported by the Galapagos National Park Administration and
the Marine Department of CDRS, taught the students how to conduct their own research projects, data collection, ecology and other topics relating directly to Galapagos issues such as sustainable fishing and human impact. A cultural exchange between the local and US students was also part of the programme.
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Three months into the sea turtle nesting season 1,003 females have been tagged on three islands (Santa Cruz, Baltra and Isabela) in an effort to find out more about the importance of green turtle nesting in Galapagos. This highly endangered species is suffering drastic declines worldwide while
Galapagos remains one of its strongholds. Ninety-six local, national and international volunteers have participated in the project thus far, which will run until the end of the nesting season in May.
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For some years, the rampages of the heinous introduced Australian mealybug were threatening numerous Galapagos endemic plants with extinction. This resulted in the first-ever controlled introduction of a predator species for the purpose of conservation, with the massive release of the ladybeetle
Rodolia cardinalis - which eats nothing other than this pest - in early 2002. Two years down the road this novel project is proving so successful that finding sufficient quantities of mealybugs to continue feeding the captive bred ladybeetles still needed to spread the predators into remote infected areas, is prompting a call to anyone who can locate and gather mealybugs for the breeding centre.
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The huge task of mounting, labeling and organizing the CDRS insect collection continues apace in the immaculately revamped museum room of the entomology area, with 26,000 specimens inventoried by the end of last year, and counting. This is crucial work not only to understand Galapagos
micro-fauna, but also in light of the 438 species of introduced insects so far recorded which could upset the natural ecosystem, a reminder of the critical importance of quarantine rules for Galapagos.
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At the end of the last breeding season, the giant tortoise and land iguana breeding centres reported no less than 136 baby iguanas (to boost the depleted Baltra population, see Baltra land iguanas freed of cats, above) and 661 baby tortoises under three years old from various islands, all happily munching on a variety of
fresh foliage delivered to them daily. With a mortality rate of less than 1%, their future is bright.
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In a raid undertaken as the supply ship "Paola" was about to sail from Puerto Villamil (Isabela Island) back to the mainland, a team representing local environmental police and Ecuadorian navy arrested the vessel's cargo master and seized 18,814 semi-dried sea cucumbers which were under his
control. These were being exported illegally as a result of poaching in the Marine Reserve long after the last permitted sea cucumber fishing season closed in the middle of last year. Both the cargo and the accused were transported to Santa Cruz for legal proceedings aboard a Park boat, and the vessel placed under arrest.
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In late February, representatives from the various fishing cooperatives in Galapagos blocked access to the National Park and Darwin Station premises, paralysing the work of both organisations and preventing tourists from carrying out their normal visits. There was concern for the safety of staff
living on site and for the survival of young iguanas and tortoises at the breeding centre to which food could not be brought, but the siege ended peacefully when high government officials signed a unilateral accord with the strikers.
This document agreed to consider a list of demands abolishing much of the legal framework under which the Galapagos Marine Reserve is administered. Subsequently the Minister of the Environment resigned and much concern was expressed by local entities, national and international NGOs, aid agencies, foreign embassies, etc, about the governability of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, should the current Participatory Management System
(by which all Galapagos interest groups partake in the decision-making process) be abandoned. The CDF was asked by the government of Ecuador to produce a technical report advising on the negotiations, which was produced at short notice and delivered on March 21. One month after the strike, the discussions to resolve the problems continue.
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On 3 March, the 83-tonne vessel "Lady Lola" with 15 crew aboard, ran aground in the Itabaca Channel between Baltra and Santa Cruz islands, raising fears of a potential oil spill. Fortunately, the Lady Lola's double hull ensured no leaks occurred and the Insular Crisis Committee, headed by the Ecuadorian Navy to deal with such contingencies, was able to transfer the ship's fuel to another vessel and help in its safe refloating. There was no need for
action on the conservation front.
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The President of Ecuador has put an end to nearly three months of debate by reinstating the law that controls tourism activities in protected areas (RETANP), including Galapagos. These regulations were undermined on 5 January, 2004 by a controversial decree introducing regulations that ignored the legal framework for Galapagos, directly contravening the Participatory Management System and the self-governing principles of the Special Law for Galapagos.
As a result, enormous concern was expressed amongst conservationists, foreign aid agencies, the tour guides association AGIPA, and many other sectors of the Galapagos population. In a brand new decree signed on 22 March, President Lucio Gutierrez overruled the January amendments and allowed the original regulations to come back into force, to the relief of all.
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In February the 80 passenger ship Polaris set a high note for Galapagos when, while hosting a group from the American Association for the Advancement of Science on its weekly cruise, nearly every passenger aboard was inspired to make a donation to the Galapagos Conservation Fund (GCF), raising a total of US$16,200. The GCF is a private initiative which shares the financial support it garners equally between the CDF and Galapagos
National Park. This is a remarkable example of the high level of enthusiasm that can be ignited amongst visitors toward conservation; a growing number of individuals and companies in the tourism business are inviting their clients to become involved in various forms of support.
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