The Current State of the Galapagos Islands

The elusive Darwin Lab of the Galapagos, like many of the animal species it studies and strives to maintain, is in danger of extinction. Claiming the title of the world’s first heritage site, it is hard to imagine that such and emblem of conservation is, itself, no more safe from the corroding affects of tourism as the islands’ infamous giant tortoises.

The number of visitors to travel the Galapagos in 2007 expanded nearly 25% over 2006, most likely a response to the large eco-tourism wave to hit the Americas. While early traffic to the Islands was purely a construct of genuine nature-enthusiasts, the selective tastes of seasoned tourists were quickly expected of the Galapagos; the accommodations and tours that had once been acceptable for many years were now “dingy” and “dilapidated”.

In response, multinational tour operations sprouted across the globe, offering their own Galapagos tours; cruise ships crusted in diamonds and coated with brilliantine. All exaggerations aside, these exclusive luxury Galapagos tours embarked for the mysterious Ecuadorian island-cluster, what they reached instead was a critical mass for the Galapagos’ national economy.

Local businesses were soon unable to keep up with the swarm of amenities engulfing the other tours and, as a result, the UNESCO-recognized “living museum” was set on the same course as its inhabitants—complete anonymity.

The other side to the argument will tell you that the surge of tourism is was drawing in mainland Ecuadorians to participate in the spoils of this new source of income, and that the only crime they may have committed was slightly “Disnifying” the locale.

At the end of the day, world conservation organizations and the Ecuadorian government are working to rectify the situation, to replenish the Galapagos economy, and hopefully propel the islands and its indigenous life back to the surface.

~ by galapagoscruises on February 10, 2009.