HELP SAVE THE GALAPAGOS - JOIN S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S.

In addition to working with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to uphold international conservation laws I have recently joined the Board of Directors of a new organization called S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S.

It stands for the Society to Prevent Exotic Contamination of Island Ecosystems and Endangered Species.

This group is headed up by Allison Lance who has had years of experience in rescuing animals.

And the first task that S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S. is taking on is the awesomely difficult job of addressing exotic species in the Galapagos Islands.

The Galapagos are a world Heritage site and the rising number of dogs, cats, and goats is having a devastating impact on indigenous species like the giant tortoise, the marine iguana, lava lizards and the many beautiful species of birds found on the islands.

Allison has worked since 2001 with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and with Animal Balance to help spay and neuter dogs and cats on the islands. She has the experience and the skills needed to address this problem. More importantly she has the passion to accept this formidable challenge.

Despite the fact that the Special Law for the Galapagos prohibits the importation of dogs and cats, more than 4,000 of them have been fixed. Unfortunately the numbers keep growing as people bring in more animals from the mainland and breed more.

Of course the most destructive exotic species is the human species and many of the people working in the Galapagos are not legal residents.

S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S. is not proposing a lethal solution for exotic animals. Instead, Allison has a program to continue to sterilize animals and to capture and relocate stray animals to the mainland. She is also working with the Ecuadorian authorities to increase the costs of pet owning permits and to raise fines for animals that run loose and threaten wildlife.

S.P.E.C.E.I.E.E.S. is also working to promote alternatives to cars to lower the impact of the human species.

Partnered with Sea Shepherd, Animal Balance and the Galapagos National Park, Allison's new organization of which I am proud to be a director fulfills a very real need in the effort to protect native species and habitats from the damage caused by introduced exotics.

When I first landed in the Galapagos in 2000, there were marine iguanas sunning themselves on the sidewalk in the town and herons boldly walking down the main street. Lava lizards were constantly darting across my path and the large ancient giant tortoises lumbered along without a worry. All has changed due to more people, more tourists, more dogs, more cats and invading insects and domestic farm animals.

We can lose the Galapagos unless we take action. If we cannot protect a place like this, a world heritage site, and a national park than what hope is there for any other eco-system on the planet.

Help me to make S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S a success and sign up as a monthly or yearly supporting member of this much needed organization.

With your help we can save these enchanted isles.

Donations can be made to:

S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S.
P.O. Box 3241
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
USA

$25 - Annual Membership feeor become a supporting monthly donor at ______ per monthor send a donation of any amount.

And you can adopt a dog or cat from the Galapagos.

T - (360) 370-5772
C- (360) 298-0368

Website:
www.speciees.org

Contact Allison Lance at:
allisonlance@speciees.org

Founder & President:
Allison Lance

Board of Directors: Captain Paul Watson Larry Richman DVM James Moss JD Board of Advisors: Dr. Diego Barrera DVM Emma Clifford (Animal Balance) Alex Cornelissen Dr. Chinney Krishna

Byron Maas DVM
Jami Pannell J.D., B.L.A.
Grant Pereira
Phil Wollen
Dr. Lew Seidenberg DVM

Please pass this on to other friends. The Protection of the Galapagos National Park is a priority international conservation issue.

SHARK CAMPAIGN

Moving forward in 2008

We were delighted to have raised £23,000 towards GCT's shark campaign in 2007. This year we want to raise much more money, as we are now including many more species in the campaign!

2008 marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of the GMR and we have broadened our campaign to raise much-needed funds for all the species that play a part in this fragile marine ecosystem. While supporting monitoring work is critical, the broader socio-economic and environmental challenges also need to be tackled if we are to guarantee a sustainable future for the Reserve as a whole and the wonderful array of creatures who depend upon it. Because while they are still vulnerable to indiscriminate human activity, they are all at great risk. This year, therefore, we are also raising funds to support research into a sustainable future for both the local fishing industry and the local population.

What needs to be done to protect the Marine Reserve?

Protecting the marine environment in Galapagos is more complex than simply funding a project to research the lives and activities of any one species, although we recognise the importance of this exercise too and continue to raise funds in this area.

To protect the entire marine ecosystem, not only do we need to look at species specific projects, but also projects that incorporate human intervention, since humans are both the direct and indirect cause of vulnerable species' demise. GCT works closely with their partners in Galapagos to support projects that involve educating the human population about the importance of this World Heritage Site and helping them to seek alternative employment from, for example, over fishing and illegal fishing within these protected waters.

The Marine Reserve hosts a whole range of species in its waters from shark and fish populations to seabirds, turtles and sea lions, all of which play a fundamental role within this aquatic ecosystem and to tourists' once in a lifetime experience in the islands.

Many iconic species live and feed within the Marine Reserve and no doubt all of us will find our favourite Galapagos animal in this list of just some of the species effected:

Species reliant on the Galapagos Marine Reserve:

Larger species

• Sharks
• Whales
• Sea lions
• Fur Seals
• Turtles
• Marine Iguanas
• Dolphins
  

Other

• Coastal Plants, including Mangrove
• Crabs, including the Sally light foot crab
• Sea urchins

Birds

• Boobies - blue-footed, red-footed, nasca
• Waved Albatross - endemic
• Flightless Cormorant - endemic
• Galapagos penguin - endemic
• Gulls, including the rare, endemic lava gull

Species' that are particularly vulnerable

• Sharks
• Sea cucumber
• Lobsters
• Waved albatross
• Penguins
• Cormorants
• Marine Iguanas

There are various funds supporting projects researching and protecting these species and a donation towards the GCT Shark Campaign 2008 will ensure that your money is used for priority projects, identified and agreed by the Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos Conservation Trust.

Galapagos Conservation Trust
5 Derby Street, London W1J 7AB, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0)20 7629 5049 | Fax: +44 (0)20 7629 4149 |

Email: gct@gct.org
Registered Charity Number: 1043470
Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No. 3004112

SHARK FINNING IN GALAPAGOS ISLAND, SHAME OR STUPIDITY ???

Either it be incidentally, arbitrarily, legal or illegally, the number continues being the same: one hundred million sharks killed every year in the planet. And it also happens in Galápagos!

I have not read about it, no one told me about it; I saw it with my own eyes, I personally gathered the net to take the photo for this article. It was difficult for me to raise it because on it, in it, and through it, hundreds of inert creatures were hanging, trapped. I was following the instructions of Franklin Guaranda, who was trying to obtain the necessary evidence to report to the Galápagos National Park. “Raise the net more”, “Hold it high and don’t move it”, “Twist it a little towards the light”, “Hurry it seems that the fishermen are coming”.

Disciplined as I am, held my breath and my tears. Never in my life had I seen a shark caught in a fishing net. A small black fin shark, like a little rubber fish, constituted a great part of the weight that I held under my arms.

With the Zodiac we traveled the approximately three hundred meters of net, from one end to the other, both tied to the beach, taking photographs and video. We saw at least three rays caught, agonizing, four inert sharks and, by of course dozens of Mullets also known in Ecuador as Lisas (Mugil sp.) which are the primary target of this type of fishing.

At six thirty in the morning, our passengers were at the top of Bartolomé Island, one of the most visited sites of the islands. From its height of one hundred and fifteen meters, they contemplate the sun illuminating San Salvador to the west, Santa Cruz in the distance, the north beach of Bartolomé with its golden half moon form and to the south… in the south beach… a circle of death, in broad day light.

The guides call to the boat. Giancarlo Toti, Graciela Cevallos, Walter Perez insist on the radio. Even as they are seeing it, they can’t believe it. The captain, Juan Robalino, authorizes a Zodiac, and with camera in hand, our only weapon and instrument of work, we rushed to the reported place. I have lived something similar in two previous occasions. I knew I was at risk of being insulted, as it has happened before, that we would have to be fast in case the fishermen became aggressive, and that we had to protect the camera. But everything came to pass very “civilized”, if the term fits.

Ashamed?

1. When the fishermen saw us arrive, they got into their boat and they went to the beach, to gather the net. They watched us, we watched them, we were very close to them, always with our camera in hand, but neither they nor we said a word. I want to think that with their silence they let us know that yes, they were ashamed, if not by the slaughter, then by their stupidity of having done this at this place.
   
2. it is not allowed to fish in a tourist area, and
   
3. No one is allowed to disembark on the beach, and the net was secured in each one its ends to dunes where marine turtles nest, one of the men ran stepping on who knows how many nests while he untied the net. Within the circle, in the water, there were turtles and at least five sea lions that were trapped and could not go anywhere, in addition to pelicans and frigate birds that were waiting to participate of the easy feast.

From the stern of their boat, of not more than ten meters in length, a full net full of Mullet hung under the water. We did not want to board the empty boat since we were less than them, so we could not see if they had caught more small sharks, which according to the detraction of Decree 2130, if caught “incidentally” are allowed to be sold on the mainland.

We cannot deny that in fact they were using a gill net for fishing Mullet. But there are hundreds of areas opened to legally fish mullet. So:

• Why fish in a tourist area which is known for its abundance of small shark, which in fact is the main attraction for the tourists here?

• Were they just there for the Mullet?

• Or were they hoping to “incidentally” catch some other small thing?

  That is outside our comprehension. We took photos, video and by all means, we called the Galapagos National Park immediately.

In less than two hours, a boat from the Park arrived at Bartolomé. The fishermen had gotten rid of all the evidence. But we counted on photos, video and our report was signed and ready. The fishing boat was taken to port with the personnel of the Marine Reserve Patrol of the Galápagos National Park and a member of Navy. There the legal procedures will be followed to impose the corresponding sanctions.

The South beach, on which our passengers walked to later that morning, was full of dead Mullet, and pelicans and frigate birds that were finally participating in their much awaited feast. One of the sharks “incidentally” killed was also beached. One of the one hundred million sharks that are killed every year in the world.

Either it be incidentally, arbitrarily, legal or illegally, the number continues being the same:
one hundred millions of SHARKS killed every year in the planet.
And it also happens in Galápagos!

Source:
By Paula Tagle
nalutagle@yahoo.com

THE SHADOW OF MASS TOURISM OVER GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
ECUADOR - SOUTH AMERICA

The principal economic activity of Galapagos is tourism, which started in the 1970s when the first island dwellers used their own fishing boats to take round visitors. Since then the number of visitors has increased and during 2005, the Galapagos National Park reported that 122,000 visitors had been to the archipelago. However, this sustainable form of tourism may be changing. Discovery World Cruises will sail into San Cristobal in April 2006 with a 500 passenger ship. Ecuadorian environmentalist, Deborah Chiriboga, said: "The future of the islands is uncertain. We are allowing Galapagos to lose its natural value. The tourist sector has shown that it is not interested in conservation. They are mainly responsible for the uncontrolled immigration into the islands." Guide, Witman Cox, thinks that the Galapagos National Park should ensure that tourism includes local participation. In other words, that tourists should not just visit the uninhabited islands but should stay in the Galapagos towns to consume local services.

The Minister of the Environment, Ana Albán, confirmed that her vision of Galapagos tourism is to attract affluent visitors who are interested in the wildlife. "The first step is to talk to the islanders to see what type of activities will take place. For the first time we are working with the Ministry of Tourism to design a long term plan with international support."

Pedro Zapata - Mayor of San Cristobal

The Special Law for Galapagos establishes that tourism should be participative and that the benefits should be distributed across the board. The authorities are not completely responsible for the management of tourism but if there is a lack of attention to this, the municipally will take control. One of the examples is sport fishing which, although it is allowed, there are no regulations. We are not going to wait 6 years more when there is already a growing demand for this type of activity that has little impact and benefits the islanders.

Leopoldo Bucheli Mora - Mayor of Santa Cruz

















In future tourism should not be mass tourism but selective. I have had various meetings with the members of parliament for Galapagos so that Congress can decide as to whether to increase the tax paid by the tourists when they enter the islands. At the moment they pay $100. We need to have more tourists in Galapagos but the model of tourism should include local participation. The local people should receive, directly or indirectly, the resources left by the visitors.



Pablo Gordillo - Mayor of Isabela




We have the advantage that we are only starting with tourism so we are not repeating the errors made on other islands where the benefits did not remain in the islands. For this reason we have created regulations to control tourism and that guarantee that the islanders of Isabela will benefit. There is a limit on hotels so that they cannot be more than 450 square metres and limits on foreign investment of 50% (the remaining 50% to be from a local partner). We also ask that tour operators be accredited by the Municipality of Isabela.

There are various funds supporting projects researching and protecting these species and a donation towards the GCT Shark Campaign 2008 will ensure that your money is used for priority projects, identified and agreed by the Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos Conservation Trust.

OBJECTIVES:

The Galapagos Islands

Tortoise bulletThe Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) works to contribute to the successful management of the Galapagos ecosystem.
Tortoise bulletThe GCT also raises awareness of, and funds for, the conservation needs of Galapagos.
Tortoise bulletThe GCT is the primary source of information and comment in the UK on conservation in the Galapagos Islands.

To know more about Galapagos Islands

http://www.gct.org








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