Autumn/Winter 2023 - Galapagos Matters - Galapagos Conservation Trust

GALAPAGOSMATTERS 

Rewilding 

Galapagos 

GLOBAL 

PLASTICS 

TREATY 

Antarctic 

connections 

AUTUMN | WINTER 2023 

galapagosconservation.org.uk

GALAPAGOSMATTERS 

CONTENTS 

Cover: Galapagos land 

iguanas are ecosystem 

engineers and create 

opportunities for other 

species on islands 

where they are present 

by opening up paths, 

removing soil and 

dispersing seeds. 

© Leighton Lum 

4-5 Wild Galapagos 

6 -7 Galapagos News 

8 -11 Rewilding Galapagos 

GCT’s Tom O’Hara explains how the removal of 

invasive species and the reintroduction of keystone 

species can restore habitats in Galapagos, making 

space for natural processes to take over and heal 

degraded island ecosystems, while Dr Paula 

Castaño tells us more about the next steps in the 

Archipelago’s most ambitious rewilding project, 

the restoration of Floreana island. 

12 Remembering Randal and Godfrey 

GCT’s new Chief Executive Jen Jones pays tribute 

to two pillars of the Galapagos conservation 

community that we sadly lost earlier this year: 

Randal Keynes OBE and Godfrey Merlen. 

13 Legends of Galapagos Appeal 

14 -15 Project Updates 

16 -17 GCT at the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations 

GCT’s Jess Howard reports back on the second 

round of negotiations for a future Global Plastics 

Treaty in Paris, and we interview Luis Vayas 

Valdivieso, one of the elected Chairs of the 

Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee, about 

the progress so far. 

18-19 Restoring Floreana: a local perspective 

GCT’s Kelly Hague visited Floreana last year, 

and saw first-hand the fantastic impact that the 

Restoring Floreana project is going to have for the 

people and wildlife that call the island their home. 

20-21 Supporter News & Membership 

22 Global Relevance 

Galapagos and Antarctica, two remote and 

seemingly very different regions of the globe, share 

some surprising connections and face many of the 

same challenges, as Jonathan Green explains. 

23 Events & Merchandise 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Dr Paula A.Castaño is a wildlife 

veterinarian who has been 

working with Island Conservation 

since 2013, supported by GCT, 

to provide technical assistance 

to the Galapagos National Park 

on preventing extinctions and 

restoring ecosystems. She is 

currently part of the Restoring 

Floreana project, working as a 

Native Species Specialist and 

co-ordinating all environmental 

aspects of the project, including 

species reintroduction. 

Luis Vayas Valdivieso is Ecuador’s 

Ambassador to the UK and one of the 

elected Chairs of the Intergovernmental 

Negotiation Committee for the future 

international legally binding instrument 

on plastic pollution. He has nearly 30 

years of experience in government and 

diplomacy, and served as the Vice- 

President of the Conference of the 

Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and 

Stockholm Conventions on protecting 

human health and the environment 

from hazardous chemicals and wastes. 

Jonathan Green is the founder and 

director of the Galapagos Whale 

Shark Project, and has worked 

for nearly three decades in the 

Galapagos Islands. He is an elected 

Fellow of the Royal Geographical 

Society in London, and when not in 

Galapagos he works on expedition 

vessels in the polar regions. He also 

teaches photography workshops in 

destinations around the world and 

has won several international awards. 

2 GALAPAGOS MATTERS

FROM THE 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE 

by Dr Jen Jones 

Iam honoured to have been 

appointed Chief Executive 

Officer at GCT, my ultimate 

dream job. 

After dedicating the last 12 years 

to Galapagos through my work with 

GCT as the Head of Programmes, my 

passion for the Islands, the wildlife 

and the wonderful people who live 

there has only grown with each new 

experience. The same is true of GCT, 

an organisation I have grown with, 

learned so much from and never fail 

to see the potential of. I would like 

to say a big thank you to the Board 

for placing their trust in me, to my 

predecessor Sharon Johnson for 

the strong foundations that she has 

built over the past eight years, and 

to GCT’s amazing staff, supporters 

and volunteers for everything that 

you do. 

We are at a pivotal point in our 

mission, with experience, evidence 

and connections coming together 

and allowing us to rapidly scale up 

our impact. We are being invited 

to sit at increasingly influential 

tables, representing voices from the 

Islands that deserve to be amplified 

– the result of more impactful 

programmes, communications and 

networking. This was exemplified by 

our recent attendance at the second 

round of negotiations on the future 

Global Plastics Treaty in Paris in May 

(p.16-17). This momentum is not 

a second too soon as we ramp up 

our efforts towards achieving global 

targets such as the United Nations 

Sustainable Development Goals by 

2030 in Galapagos. 

We are optimistic about the 

prospects of securing a strong 

Global Plastics Treaty, but we know 

that the power of the plastics and 

petrochemical lobby will present a 

major obstacle – coming together as 

civil society will be key to standing 

up for the planet. We face additional 

challenges over the coming months, 

from political upheaval in Ecuador 

to the return of El Niño conditions, 

which will have a big impact on 

the delicate balance of nature in 

Galapagos. In particular, we know 

that marine species will be hard 

hit by the warming of the seas 

around the Archipelago, making 

our ocean protection work a crucial 

focus. Thank you to everyone 

who supported our recent Ocean 

Protection Appeal and our Alberto 

the Waved Albatross storybook 

crowdfunder, and to those of you 

who attended our fascinating spring 

webinar with Jonathan and Sofía 

Green of the Galapagos Whale Shark 

Project. If you missed the event 

you can watch the recording on 

our YouTube channel, and you can 

also hear more from Jonathan on 

page 22. 

Since the last edition of Galapagos 

Matters, we have sadly lost two of 

our dearest friends, Randal Keynes 

OBE and Godfrey Merlen. Both were 

GCT Ambassadors, hugely influential 

in the conservation of the Islands, 

and to me personally. We pay tribute 

to them both on page 12. We hope 

that in the coming years we will be 

able to realise their ambitions of 

reintroducing iconic species such 

as the little vermilion flycatcher and 

the Floreana mockingbird through 

restoring and rewilding the island 

ecosystems where they were once 

found, and we are launching a new 

appeal in their honour (p.13). 

The local community is key to the 

success of island restoration and 

rewilding projects, and Kelly writes 

movingly on pages 18-19 about 

her visit to Floreana last year. You 

can find out more about rewilding 

in Galapagos in our feature on 

pages 8-11, which I hope will whet 

your appetite for Galapagos Day at 

the Royal Geographical Society on 

19 October (p.23). We have some 

brilliant speakers lined up – I hope to 

see you there! 

© Jen Jones 

Galapagos Matters is a copyright 

biannual publication produced 

for members of Galapagos 

Conservation Trust. 

The information in this issue was 

obtained from various sources, all 

of which have extensive knowledge 

of Galapagos, but neither GCT nor 

the contributors are responsible 

for the accuracy of the contents or 

the opinions expressed herein. 

ISSN 2050-6074 Galapagos 

Matters is printed on paper 

made from well managed forests 

and controlled sources. 

Editor: Henry Nicholls 

Chief Executive: Jen Jones 

Communications Manager: Tom O’Hara 

Designer: The Graphic Design House 

Printer: Bishops Printers 

020 7399 7440 

gct@gct.org 

galapagosconservation.org.uk 


3

© Claire Waring 

4 GALAPAGOS MATTERS

WILD 

GALAPAGOS 

This dramatic image of a juvenile great frigatebird 

attacking a swallow-tailed gull by Claire Waring won 

overall first place in our Galapagos Photography 

Competition. Frigatebirds exhibit a behaviour known 

as kleptoparasitism, harassing other seabirds and 

forcing them to regurgitate their recently caught 

food by grabbing their tail feathers and shaking 

them, then catching the regurgitated food before 

it enters the sea. 

Our judges were impressed by the clarity and 

definition of this difficult shot to pull off, with BBC 

producer and director Jo Haley describing it as “full 

of energy and action”, while Galapagos naturalist 

guide Walter Perez commented that the image 

“shows that paradise can turn into hell!” 

Our 2023 competition was kindly sponsored by 

Mundy Adventures, and a selection of the top 

images chosen by our judging panel will feature in 

our 2024 calendar which is now available to pre-order 

(p.23). To see all the winners and runners-up, please 

visit galapagosconservation.org.uk/photographycompetition-galleries/ 


5

GALAPAGOS 

NEWS 

ECUADOR SECURES 

WORLD’S BIGGEST 

‘DEBT FOR NATURE’ DEAL 

Scalloped hammerheads © Simon Pierce 

In April the Ecuadorian government 

announced a much anticipated 

‘debt for nature’ swap, which will see 

$1.6 billion of existing commercial 

debt converted into a new $656 

million loan, freeing up funds for 

the conservation of the Galapagos 

Islands. 

Ecuador will repay the loan over 18 

years, and will contribute $12 million 

a year to conservation, as well as a 

further $5.4 million a year to create 

a permanent endowment, which will 

then be used to finance conservation 

activities in perpetuity. 

Belize, Barbados and the Seychelles 

have all concluded similar debt for 

nature swaps in recent years, but the 

Ecuadorian deal is by far the largest 

to date. The allocation of the new 

conservation funds will be overseen by 

a new body, the Galapagos Life Fund 

(GLF), which will be governed by an 

11-member board of directors that 

includes five Ecuadorian government 

ministers and six non-government 

representatives. The GLF’s brief is to 

address the impacts of overfishing, 

climate change and pollution on the 

Archipelago, supporting the work of 

the Galapagos National Park. Funding 

will be allocated to projects that help to 

strengthen the local economy, improve 

the management and enforcement of 

the Galapagos Marine Reserve and 

Hermandad Marine Reserve, support 

the development of more sustainable 

fisheries, and build climate resilience. 

HIGH SEAS TREATY 

AGREED AT THE UN 

There was a crucial breakthrough 

at the United Nations in March, 

as nations finally reached agreement 

on a High Seas Treaty after nearly 20 

years of negotiations. The treaty will 

put mechanisms in place to create 

Marine Protected Areas in parts of the 

ocean beyond national jurisdiction, a 

key component in realising the shared 

global goal of protecting 30% of the 

world’s oceans by 2030. The treaty will 

also govern marine research for both 

scientific and commercial purposes, 

and a new conference of the parties 

(COP) will meet periodically to monitor 

progress and hold signatories to 

account. 

6 GALAPAGOS MATTERS

STUDY SHOWS THAT 

CONSERVING WILDLIFE CAN HELP 

MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE 

Protecting wildlife could 

significantly enhance natural 

carbon capture, according to a study 

published in Nature Climate Change 

and co-authored by 15 scientists from 

eight countries. The research looked 

at nine species – marine fish, whales, 

sharks, grey wolves, wildebeest, sea 

otters, musk oxen, African forest 

elephants and American bison – and 

found that protecting or restoring their 

populations could allow the capture of 

an additional 6.41 billion tons of carbon 

dioxide per year. This constitutes 95% of 

the amount needed every year to meet 

the Paris Agreement target of keeping 

global temperature rise below 1.5C. 

You can read the study here: 

go.nature.com/3qp2j5U 

GLOBAL PLASTICS TREATY 

NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE 

The GCT team attended the second 

round of negotiations on a future 

Global Plastics Treaty, which took 

place between 29 May and 2 June 

at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. 

Although the negotiations got off to a 

difficult start, with some oil- and plasticproducing 

nations delaying proceedings 

with procedural arguments around 

voting mechanisms, there was also 

some encouraging progress, with states 

agreeing to develop the first draft of the 

treaty text. Intersessional work on the 

‘zero draft’ will continue ahead of the 

third round of negotiations taking place 

in Nairobi in November. Read Jess’s 

article on page 16 for more reflections 

on the Paris talks. 

© GCT 

12 LITTLE VERMILION 

FLYCATCHER CHICKS FLEDGE 

The land bird conservation team at 

the Charles Darwin Foundation 

(CDF) has reported the most successful 

nesting season for little vermilion 

flycatchers on Santa Cruz since the 

management programme started in 

© Agustín Gutiérrez - CDF 

PRESIDENTIAL POLL GOES TO 

SECOND ROUND 

Ecuador’s presidential election 

will be decided by a run-off 

after frontrunner Luisa González 

failed to secure the 50% of the vote 

required to win the contest outright 

in August’s first round. She will face 

Daniel Noboa in the second round on 

15 October. Elections were triggered 

when President Guillermo Lasso 

dissolved the National Assembly in 

May, and take place against a backdrop 

of a deteriorating security situation in 

mainland Ecuador. A recent upsurge 

in violence has been fuelled by the 

drugs trade, and tensions remain high 

after presidential candidate Fernando 

Villavicencio was assassinated less than 

a fortnight before voters went to the 

polls. GCT will continue to monitor 

the situation and the implications for 

Galapagos. 

TOURIST ARRIVALS HIT RECORD HIGH 

March 2023 set a new record 

for monthly tourist numbers 

in Galapagos, with 32,509 arrivals 

according to the Ecuadorian Ministry 

of Tourism. The tourist industry in 

Galapagos has experienced a rapid 

post-pandemic recovery, and the 

Galapagos National Park Directorate 

recently announced that 267,688 

tourists visited the Galapagos Islands in 

2022, just 1% behind 2019 numbers. 

2018, with 12 juveniles successfully 

fledging following the 2023 nesting 

season. Scientists from CDF and the 

Galapagos National Park are working 

on the experimental restoration of the 

island’s Scalesia forest, a key habitat for 

this colourful but Vulnerable endemic 

bird, which is threatened by invasive 

species such as mora (hill raspberry) and 

the avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi). 

STUDY REVEALS GROWING 

‘PLASTIC SMOG’ IN OUR OCEANS 

There are more than 170 trillion 

plastic particles, weighing 

approximately 2 million tonnes, 

afloat in the world’s oceans, according 

to a study led by the 5 Gyres Institute 

and co-authored by Dr Martin Thiel, a 

member of our Pacific Plastics: Science 

to Solutions network. The study also 

showed a rapid acceleration in plastic 

densities in the world’s oceans since 

2005. Read the full paper here: 

bit.ly/5GyresPlasticsResearch 

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER PRISTINE 

DEEP-SEA CORAL REEFS IN GALAPAGOS 

An international team of scientists 

has discovered extensive, 

ancient deep-sea coral reefs in the 

Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), the 

first such discovery since the GMR was 

established in 1998. The Galapagos 

Deep 2023 expedition, led by scientists 

at the Woods Hole Oceanographic 

Institution, University of Bristol, 

Boise State University and University 

of Essex, in collaboration with the 

Galapagos National Park Directorate, 

Charles Darwin Foundation and the 

Ecuadorian Navy’s Oceanographic 

and Antarctic Institute, made the 

discovery while exploring a previously 

unmapped seamount in the centre of 

the Archipelago on board the deep-sea 

research submersible Alvin. 


7

REWILDING 

GALAPAGOS 

by Tom O’Hara 

Galapagos giant tortoise © Ben Howitt 

R 

’ ewilding’ is a broad and not entirely scientific term, which has been used to 

describe everything from landscape-scale restoration of ecosystems to letting 

weeds grow wild in your garden. 

It has been the source of 

controversy, particularly when it 

entails land being taken out of food 

production, or the reintroduction of 

species such as wolves and beavers. 

Concerns have also been raised about 

local and indigenous communities being 

marginalised by rewilding projects, and 

the economic benefits of rewilding have 

been questioned by those who fear the 

loss of traditional rural industries. 

Yet the potential benefits of rewilding 

are enormous. There is a growing 

realisation that biodiversity loss needs to 

be reversed if we are to mitigate against 

the worst effects of climate change, 

and nations are now committed to 

protecting 30% of the world’s land and 

sea by 2030. Rewilding creates more 

space for nature, and allows natural 

processes to drive the restoration of 

damaged ecosystems, often with a little 

helping hand from humans. 

This may involve the removal of 

damaging invasive species, the creation 

of new habitat (e.g. by planting trees), 

or the reintroduction of locally extinct 

‘keystone species’. A combination 

of deliberate reintroductions and 

spontaneous recolonisation can help 

wildlife populations recover and boost 

biodiversity, which we now know is so 

crucial to the health of our planet, and 

there is also a growing body of evidence 

that rewilding brings economic benefits 

to local communities, particularly when 

applied to unproductive land that is 

poorly suited to agriculture. Rewilded 

land has a role to play in everything 

from carbon capture to preventing the 

transmission of zoonotic diseases, and 

can help to create a world in which 

humans thrive in balance with the 

natural world. 

But what does rewilding mean in 

the context of Galapagos, where 97% 

of the land is already a protected 

National Park? 

CONTROLLING 

INVASIVE SPECIES 

Today, despite strong biosecurity 

measures, there are estimated to be 

nearly 1,500 introduced species present 

in the Galapagos Islands. Among the 

most damaging are rats and feral cats, 

which predate on ground nesting birds, 

iguanas and the eggs of giant tortoises, 

while introduced herbivores such as 

The Galapagos rail has naturally 

recolonised Pinzon island © Ian Henderson 

goats can lay waste to vegetation. 

Less immediately obvious, but equally 

devastating, is the parasitic avian 

vampire fly, Philornis downsi. The 

larvae of this fly feed on the eggs 

and hatchlings of many species of 

Galapagos land bird, with up to 100% 

mortality in some nests. If we are to 

return the Galapagos Islands to a truly 

wild state, these invasive species need 

to be removed. 

We already know what a difference 

this will make from islands such as 

Pinzon, which was cleared of invasive 

rats in 2012 after many of its native 

8 GALAPAGOS MATTERS

species became extinct. Ten years later, 

there are promising signs of ecological 

recovery, and GCT is supporting our 

partners to deliver surveys to track this. 

Two species of bird – the Galapagos 

rail and the cactus finch – have naturally 

recolonised the island, and Pinzon 

giant tortoises are reproducing in the 

wild again. 

GCT is addressing the impact of 

Philornis downsi through our support for 

the Mangrove Finch Project. In recent 

years, the team has been focusing 

on Philornis control in the wild. This 

includes injecting wild nests with an 

insecticide, which needs to be delivered 

by a highly skilled tree-climber, and 

trialling use of feather dispensers 

treated with an insecticide to see if 

breeding pairs will use these feathers as 

nest building materials. 

RESTORING HABITATS 

Invasive animal species are not the 

only barrier to rewilding the Galapagos 

Islands. Since its introduction in 1968, 

the invasive hill raspberry (Rubus niveus) 

has spread across the Archipelago. In 

places, impenetrable spiny thickets 

grow up to three metres tall, turning 

agricultural areas into wasteland and 

preventing the unique native forest, 

dominated by the endemic daisy tree 

(Scalesia), from regenerating. The dense 

stands of vegetation have also been 

found to be preventing birds such as the 

little vermilion flycatcher from foraging 

on the ground for food. 

We are supporting the Landbird 

Conservation Programme, led by 

the Charles Darwin Foundation and 

the Galapagos National Park, which 

is investigating a number of ways 

to reverse the decline of endemic 

land birds. This includes research 

into potential biocontrol methods to 

Galapagos National Park plant nursery © Shannon D’Arcy 

remove the hill raspberry, for example 

by introducing a rust fungus from the 

plant’s native range to weaken it and 

reduce its impact. Current control 

methods entail a mixture of manual 

labour and herbicide application, 

but the plant’s fast growth and large 

seedbank make these methods 

expensive and labour-intensive. 

Research has also shown that natural 

regeneration of Scalesia pedunculata 

forest is limited following the removal 

of the invasive plants, so the team 

is helping to restore the flycatchers’ 

habitat by planting saplings. 

REINTRODUCING 

KEYSTONE SPECIES 

The ecologist Robert Paine coined 

the term ‘keystone species’ in the 1960s 

to describe those species that exert a 

significant effect on the composition of 

an ecosystem. When a keystone species 

is removed from an ecosystem, that 

ecosystem is dramatically altered, and 

may even collapse. There are generally 

considered to be three different types of 

keystone species: predators, mutualists 

and ecosystem engineers. 

Predators such as sharks control the 

populations of their prey, which in turn 

can have effects further down the food 

chain, in what is known as a ‘trophic 

cascade’. Mutualists provide benefits 

for other species as part of a symbiotic 

relationship. The most obvious example 

is pollinators such as bees, which both 

feed on the plants that they pollinate, 

and also enable those plants to 

reproduce and spread. An ecosystem 

engineer is a species that can create, 

modify, maintain or destroy a habitat, 

which in turn can benefit (or harm) 

other species. Perhaps the best-known 

example of an ecosystem engineer is 

the beaver, with its remarkable ability 

to slow rivers, restore woodlands and 

create wetland habitats through felling 

trees and building dams. 

Mangrove finch © Michael Dvorak 


9

The most iconic Galapagos species 

of all, the giant tortoise, is an important 

ecosystem engineer. Tortoises shape 

their habitats by grazing on plants, 

dispersing seeds and trampling 

vegetation. They play an important 

role in germinating seeds, as well as 

in thinning out and opening up new 

areas of ground for different types of 

vegetation to grow. 

For evidence of these processes 

at work, we just have to look at the 

reintroduction of giant tortoises to Santa 

Fe. This small island once had its own 

endemic species of tortoise, which went 

extinct in the mid-19th century due to 

overexploitation by humans. The island’s 

ecosystem was then ravaged by the 

introduction of feral goats, which caused 

severe soil erosion and changes in the 

structure of the vegetation. A successful 

eradication programme removed the 

goats in the 1970s, but the continuing 

absence of tortoises limited the ability 

of the ecosystem to recover. 

Following genetic evaluation of 

tortoise bones on the island, a decision 

was made to introduce the closest living 

relative of the Santa Fe tortoise to the 

island as a proxy for the extinct species. 

Between 2015 and 2020, a total of 551 

juvenile and 31 subadult tortoises from 

Española island (Chelonoidis hoodensis) 

were translocated to Santa Fe, and by 

2020 they had successfully colonised 

around 10% of the island. Most 

promisingly, the population of both 

the Opuntia echios cactus (a keystone 

species for many organisms on the 

island) and the land iguana subspecies 

Conolophus pallidus were shown to 

have increased following the arrival of 

the tortoises. 

Findings such as these support 

the reintroduction of large-bodied 

reptilian herbivores as a key component 

of restoring island ecosystems in 

Galapagos, and we expect to see 

similar results from the reintroduction 

of land iguanas to Santiago island, 

a project supported by GCT over 

a number of years. Iguanas were 

Santa Fe land iguana © Kevin Fraser 

reintroduced in 2019 after an absence 

of more than a century, and are now 

successfully breeding, with the island 

already showing positive environmental 

changes. The iguanas open up paths, 

remove soil and disperse seeds, and 

changes in population dynamics create 

greater food availability for others, with 

endemic species such as Galapagos 

hawks likely to return over the next 

few years. 

SUPPORTING LOCAL 

COMMUNITIES 

As we reported in the last issue of 

Galapagos Matters, we are currently 

scoping a new project to rewild marginal 

agricultural land in the highlands of Santa 

Cruz. This land could act as a ‘buffer 

zone’ between the agricultural zone 

and the National Park, creating more 

space for nature and allowing land to 

recover from damage sustained due to 

overgrazing, cultivation of introduced 

crops and the use of pesticides. Together 

with more wildlife-friendly methods of 

farming, this can also mitigate the spread 

of disease between wildlife, domestic 

animals and humans, and limit the 

spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 

We are partnering with local NGO 

Fundación Un Cambio por la Vida 

to support landowners and local 

community leaders who want to rewild 

their land, and we want to support 

young islanders to experience nature 

through involvement with rewilding. 

We also believe that these projects can 

create sustainable jobs in conservation, 

regenerative farming and ecotourism, 

and allow humans to thrive alongside 

nature on the populated islands. This, we 

believe, is the only way to guarantee the 

long-term survival of the unique wildlife 

and natural beauty of Galapagos. 

Treating vermilion flycatcher nests 

© Agustin Gutierrez - CDF 

Scalesia pedunculata © Patricia Jaramillo - CDF 

Participants in the Floreana workshop, July 2022 © GNPD 

GALAPAGOS 

DAY 2023 

Find out more about rewilding 

and restoring island habitats, 

including our plans for the 

highlands of Santa Cruz, at 

Galapagos Day 2023. 

See page 23 for more details. 

10 GALAPAGOS MATTERS

RESTORING FLOREANA: 

A PLAN FOR THE REINTRODUCTION OF LOCALLY EXTINCT SPECIES 

by Dr Paula A. Castaño 

Floreana is home to an array of 

unique species, some endemic 

to the island, such as the medium 

tree finch, and others endemic to the 

Archipelago, like the Galapagos petrel, 

which has its largest breeding colony 

on Floreana. But these unique species 

are not alone in paradise. Mammals, 

including the house mouse, black rat 

and feral cats, in addition to other 

species such as the avian vampire fly 

(Philornis downsi), introduced by people 

at different stages in the island’s human 

history, became invasive, negatively 

impacting wildlife populations and 

the island’s food security. This has 

resulted in 54 species present on 

Floreana being listed as globally 

threatened by the International Union 

for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with 

at least two of these species classified 

as Critically Endangered, suggesting 

a high likelihood of extinction within 

our lifetime. 

But there is hope. The Galapagos 

National Park Directorate (GNPD), 

the Agency for the Regulation and 

Control of Biosecurity and Quarantine 

for Galapagos (ABG) and the 

Floreana community, with technical 

assistance from Fundación JocoToco, 

Island Conservation, Durrell Wildlife 

Conservation Trust and other partners 

and funders such as Galapagos 

Conservation Trust, are working hard 

to protect Floreana’s native species 

through the implementation of the 

Floreana Island Ecological Restoration 

Project, which aims to remove invasive 

rodents and feral cats from Floreana 

in 2023. 

Once invasive rodents and feral cats 

are removed from the island, Floreana’s 

unique fauna and flora will have greater 

opportunity to recover and flourish. 

But these restoration and rewilding 

efforts require careful planning. In 

July 2022, after several years of 

planning and collaboration among 

the Floreana Ecological Restoration 

Project partnership and supporters, 

we finally gathered on Floreana at a 

three-day workshop led by the GNPD. 

The goal was to create a collaborative 

environment to understand the 

requirements for reintroducing all 

extirpated species to Floreana once 

invasive predators are removed and 

establish a mutually agreed upon 

plan for this ambitious conservation 

endeavour. This plan spans beyond 

the next five years with the first three 

to five species (including the Floreana 

mockingbird) returning to the island, 

possibly in 2024 and 2025, while other 

species such as the Galapagos hawk 

will return only when other reintroduced 

species populations have become 

established. 

Furthermore, all stakeholders agreed 

on the end goal: restoring an ecosystem 

unlike anywhere else on the planet, 

where communities continue to thrive 

together with nature. 

This workshop 

was of great 

importance and 

a great challenge 

to determine 

strategies for 

reintroducing 

locally extinct species 

on Floreana. During the workshop, 

it was evident the great interest that 

all the participants had in being able 

to contribute to this remarkable 

conservation project, regardless of 

the challenges that await us. As a Park 

Ranger, it is another commitment and 

challenge that I am willing to face 

in order to protect and restore the 

ecosystems of Galapagos. 

I was invited to a workshop by 

Island Conservation, an NGO 

dedicated to conservation in the 

Galapagos, and by my institution, 

the Galapagos National Park, 

to create an action plan for 

reintroducing native and endemic 

species of the Galapagos Islands. 

This opportunity was significant for me and my 

colleagues. The speakers and experts attending the 

workshop shared their knowledge on the topics being 

discussed, allowing me to improve my conservation 

knowledge as a Park Ranger. This experience was 

very satisfactory since it strengthened my ability to 

continue supporting all the future work to be carried 

out to restore Floreana. Everyone’s involvement was 

critical to help the future reintroductions of these 

species. I learned a lot, and I am very grateful for 

being part of this project. 

Wilson Cabrera, Invasive Species 

Eradication Specialist, Galapagos 

National Park 

Fidelino Gaona, Park Ranger and Avian 

Specialist, Galapagos National Park 


11

REMEMBERING 

RANDAL AND GODFREY 

by Jen Jones 

E 

arlier this year we lost two very special members of the Galapagos conservation community and 

long-standing GCT Ambassadors: Randal Keynes OBE and Godfrey Merlen. 

planes and boats to campaigning for an end to whaling and 

wildlife trafficking, he drove so much change for the benefit of 

the Islands, often pioneering new approaches to conservation 

that hadn’t even crossed the minds of others. 

GCT is honoured to have had Godfrey as an Ambassador 

since we began in the 1990s, and all who worked with him 

were inspired deeply by his love for nature and his wisdom of 

conservation. He had many friends and colleagues all over the 

world who will miss him dearly. 

Godfrey was a true voice for nature – we must continue to 

deliver his vision for a Galapagos where humans and nature 

thrive in harmony. 

Randal Keynes at Down House © GCT 

first met Randal Keynes in 2011. A smiling, unassuming 

I gentleman keen to share his knowledge and stories, he 

was already a stalwart for GCT and someone high on my 

list of ‘Galapagos All Stars’ to meet when I first started. 

A skilled raconteur, Randal delighted in telling little known 

stories about Charles Darwin, his great great grandfather and 

object of much dedicated study. One of his main missions was 

to humanise Darwin and increase relatability with the general 

public, moving away from the image of the old, bearded 

sombre scientist to a real person (who was young once!) with 

many facets. I remember the twinkle in Randal’s eye as he 

spoke about the drawings Darwin kept that were done by 

his young children, littered amongst his copious scientific 

notes, and how he made a slide for them in his home at Down 

House. How he was fascinated by earthworms and pigeons 

and barnacles. 

Replicating some of Darwin’s experiments to supplement 

learning was a big element of Randal’s pioneering education 

work, another of his passions through the Charles Darwin 

Trust, aiming to promote ‘Darwin-inspired learning’ – 

highlighting the value of taking the time to truly observe, 

record and reflect in nature. Randal was very influential in the 

development of GCT’s Discovering Galapagos educational 

websites and a big supporter of getting local children out to 

connect with nature, benefitting from the same wonderful wild 

experience that many tourists get from visiting the Islands. 

Godfrey Merlen had lived in Galapagos since the 1970s 

(arriving around the time Lonesome George was found on 

Pinta island), and he leaves an amazing legacy in conservation 

impact. From pushing for greater invasive species control on 

Do not expect anything. Just go 

with an open mind and unexpected 

surprises will greet you wherever you 

look. But remember to look and don’t 

hurry by… Live the journey, for the 

destination may not be the expected 

one! It is always worth keeping in 

touch with Galapagos… 

Godfrey Merlen 

Godfrey Merlen © Stephanie Foote 


APPEAL 

HONOURING THE 

LEGENDS OF 

GALAPAGOS 

by Tom O’Hara 

Floreana mockingbirds © Luis Ortiz-Catedral 

The conservation of the Galapagos 

Islands is a collective endeavour 

that unites people from all walks of 

life, from scientists who have spent 

their entire professional careers 

working on the Islands, to the rapt 

viewers of David Attenborough 

documentaries who have only 

ever glimpsed the Archipelago’s 

incredible wildlife on TV. 

Protecting one of the world’s greatest 

natural treasures is by necessity a 

collaborative effort. Nevertheless, 

throughout the Islands’ history 

there have always been visionaries 

and leaders who have stood out, 

inspirational figures who have found 

creative solutions to challenges that 

have at times seemed insurmountable. 

As we find ourselves at a crucial 

juncture in the fate of our natural world, 

we can again draw courage from those 

who have shown us the way forward in 

the past. 

Our great friend Felipe Cruz, who 

sadly passed away in 2018, was born 

on Floreana island to one of the first 

Sir David Attenborough and Felipe Cruz in 2009 

© Richard Lewisohn 

families to settle in Galapagos. Felipe 

was a passionate conservationist, 

driven to protect his home Islands and 

their unique biodiversity for future 

generations. In 2023 the restoration 

of Floreana reaches a critical point, as 

we prepare for the reintroduction of 

12 locally extinct species. This project 

meant so much to Felipe, and will make 

a real difference not just for the wildlife, 

but for the friends and loved ones that 

he left behind (as you can read on 

pages 18 - 19). 

Randal Keynes was also passionate 

about the restoration of Floreana, and 

particularly the plight of the Floreana 

mockingbird. There are only a few 

hundred of these birds left in the 

world, clinging on to a tiny amount of 

habitat on two islets off the coast of 

Floreana. Randal gave a lot of his time 

and effort to support preparations for 

their reintroduction over the last two 

decades, and we hope that we will soon 

reach a point where we see these birds 

back on their home island. On that day, 

there will be many of us thinking of 

Randal. 

Godfrey Merlen was instrumental in 

beginning the work to save the little 

vermilion flycatcher, one of the most 

charismatic and well-loved bird species 

in Galapagos, which is already extinct 

on Floreana and faces the same threat 

on Santa Cruz. In 2020, Godfrey wrote 

movingly in this magazine about why 

the fate of this little red bird matters: 

“It is not just the maintenance of an 

endemic species, a part of the unique 

biodiversity of Galapagos. It is a matter 

of the heart, the inspiration of life to 

highland farmers, to all those who take 

the time to visit the mists pervading the 

forest of Scalesia daisy trees, a magical 

place, very far from the madding world, 

yet saving our minds and souls.” 

Restoring and rewilding the 

islands that inspired these legends 

of Galapagos gives us a unique 

opportunity: to leave a small but 

significant part of the world in a better 

state than that in which we found it. 

It also allows us to harness the potential 

of young local conservationists – the 

legends of tomorrow – who are working 

to secure a better future for their Islands. 

As we honour the legacy of Felipe, 

Randal, Godfrey and the many others 

who we have loved and lost, we should 

ask ourselves: what do we want our 

legacy to be? 

Can you help us restore and rewild 

the Islands? 

£25 could provide a week’s bird feed 

for a finch in captivity while invasive 

mammals are eradicated on Floreana 

£50 could provide materials for 

interactive Tessa the Giant Tortoise 

reading sessions with primary school 

students 

£75 could fund a day of clearing 

invasive hill raspberry plants from 

vermilion flycatcher habitat 

Please donate whatever 

you can by using the form 

on the back page, visiting 

galapagosconservation.org.uk/ 

donate or calling us on 

020 7399 7440 


13

PROJECT 

UPDATES 

CREATING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR PLASTICS IN GALAPAGOS 

© GCT 

P 

lastic pollution is a huge global problem that is affecting almost every habitat that has been 

investigated, from the Mariana Trench in the deep ocean to the top of Mount Everest. Only 9% of 

plastic produced globally is recycled, while 12% is incinerated and 79% is discarded into landfills. It is clear 

that a paradigm shift is needed in our relationship with plastics. 

Plastic pollution threatens more 

than 40 species in the Galapagos 

Islands due to the risk of ingestion 

or entanglement, and there is now 

an urgent need to embrace circular 

economy approaches and reduce 

plastic waste at source. The circular 

economy concept is defined as the need 

for a systemic shift from the traditional 

linear ‘cradle-to-grave’ economy to a 

circular system that reduces waste and 

leakage, embracing the ‘4Rs’ concept 

(reduce, reuse, recycle, recover). 

In January this year, GCT embarked 

on a new plastics circular economy 

project in Galapagos. The project aims 

to deliver prevention measures for local 

plastic pollution in Galapagos, including 

reducing imports, consumption and 

leakage, supported by community 

solutions for single-use plastic 

alternatives, whilst informing sustainable 

policies and supporting reduced risk 

to wildlife. 

The project is funded by the 

Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund, 

Norway’s largest private environmental 

fund, which supports national and 

international projects that reduce plastic 

pollution, increase plastic recycling 

and reduce the consumption of plastic 

bags. It is also Norway’s most important 

measure in complying with the EU 

Plastic Bags Directive. 

One of the aims of the project is to 

strengthen the international case for 

stronger plastic pollution legislation, by 

supporting Ecuador to provide a bestpractice 

example of a plastics circular 

economy in the Galapagos Islands and 

set an example to other areas, starting 

with action on single-use plastics. It also 

aims to provide new livelihoods within 

a circular economy, and will empower 

community innovators to implement 

their single-use plastic solutions. 

In partnership with our partners 

Fundación Un Cambio por la Vida and 

the Galapagos Hub, we plan to launch 

the project with the local community, 

combining community engagement with 

policy, advocacy and business activity. 

The aim is to develop a multi-pronged 

approach that will reduce single-use 

plastic bags for grocery shopping in 

Galapagos, and thus tackle one of the 

major sources of plastic waste on the 

Islands. 

We will be calling on members of 

the community (residents, tourists, 

shopkeepers and market owners/ 

organisers) to help build and inform 

the trial of three interventions aiming 

to reduce the consumption of singleuse 

plastic bags. We will combine 

interactive community engagement 

and behavioural science to understand 

existing behaviours, viability of 

alternative solutions and how to 

encourage and engage the community 

with those solutions. 

Solutions will be trialled between 

February and April 2024 and will 

comprise alternative products or 

systems, designed and trialled in an 

iterative process with the community, 

establishing trust and uniting science, 

community and policy. 


SHARK DAY 2023 

On 15 July the Galapagos Science Center, in 

partnership with many other community partners, 

ran their tenth annual Shark Day event on San Cristobal 

island. San Cristobal is the fifth largest and easternmost island 

of Galapagos, and its 5,400 residents constitute the second 

largest human population. 

Over the past decade, the team has worked hard to raise 

awareness about the importance of sharks. The ‘Science in the 

Family’ event focusses on intergenerational learning, making 

games as fun and interactive as possible, and the aim of the 

day is to promote greater knowledge about conservation 

and inspire the community to take concrete action to protect 

sharks and other marine life. 

Thanks to the help of volunteers and community partners 

the tenth anniversary event was hugely successful. Over 

500 people attended to learn about the importance of 

sharks to marine ecosystems and how we can take care of 

them. Children had the opportunity to participate in varied 

interactive games, where they explored and learned about 

the internal structure of these fascinating marine predators. In 

addition, the children also enjoyed reading GCT’s educational 

storybook Marti the Hammerhead Shark. Marti’s story is based 

on research carried out by MigraMar (supported by GCT) over 

many years, tracking the journeys of sharks from their nursery 

areas in Galapagos to the seamounts of the Pacific Ocean. 

Shark Day 2023 © Galapagos Science Center 

IMPORTANT SHARK AND RAY 

AREAS (ISRAS) 

The IUCN Red List of 

Threatened Species now 

estimates that over one third 

of sharks and rays are at risk 

of extinction. The situation 

is particularly acute in coastal 

habitats where 75% of threatened 

species are found. The IUCN 

Species Survival Commission Shark 

Specialist Group has identified 

Important Shark and Ray Areas 

(ISRAs) to ensure that discrete 

portions of habitats, critical to shark 

species, are delineated to enhance 

protection. 

Earlier this year we were notified 

that nursery grounds in Galapagos 

were designated as some of the 

first ISRAs in the world, including 

sites around San Cristobal where 

GCT has been supporting research 

for the past five years. This is 

fantastic news, and an important 

first step to conserving vulnerable 

shark and ray populations and 

other species that rely on sheltered 

mangrove lagoons in their lifecycle. 

White spotted eagle ray © Carlos Luna 


15

From L-R - Dr Sam Garrard (Plymouth Marine Laboratory/PPSS) and GCT’s Jess Howard, Dr Jen Jones, Kelly Hague and Lucía Norris © GCT 

GCT AT THE GLOBAL PLASTICS 

TREATY NEGOTIATIONS 

by Jess Howard 

E 

arlier this year, GCT attended the second round of negotiations for a global agreement to end plastic 

pollution at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. 

We were in Paris to provide 

evidence of the harms being 

caused by plastic pollution, and to 

represent our Pacific Plastics: Science 

to Solutions (PPSS) partners across 

Galapagos and the wider Eastern 

Pacific region. 

For the past five years, we have been 

gathering a wealth of evidence about 

the sources and impacts of plastic 

pollution washing into Galapagos and 

testing locally relevant solutions. We are 

using our research to support calls for a 

strong treaty and a global commitment 

to reducing single-use plastics, backed 

up by some of our key findings: 

• Over 2,500 microplastics were found 

per m 2 on the most polluted beaches 

in Galapagos, which are very difficult 

to clean 

• 69% of plastic items found on 

Galapagos coastlines are single-use 

items, and one third of those items 

are linked to drinks 

• 20% of plastic pollution globally is 

from maritime sources, whereas in 

Galapagos 40% comes from maritime 

sources 

• More than 95% of plastic found on 

Galapagos coastlines is likely to 

originate from outside the Galapagos 

Marine Reserve 

These negotiations marked 

the second meeting of the 

Intergovernmental Negotiating 

Committee (INC-2) for the Global 

Plastics Treaty. The timeline is tight, and 

the aim is to complete negotiations by 

the end of 2024. This reflects the global 

ambition for this treaty, accelerated 

and supported by countries including 

Ecuador, Peru, the UK, Rwanda and 

Senegal. 

Outside of the plenary room, where 

discussions were held until the early 

hours of the morning, the GCT team 

was busy making strong connections 

with key players working to tackle 

plastic pollution with real solutions. 


GCT, along with our international 

research network (PPSS), was invited to 

share our positions at a GRULAC (Latin 

American countries and the Caribbean 

group) meeting. We also joined efforts 

with more than 20 NGOs and networks 

working in Latin America, to submit a 

joint statement that was read during 

the plenary. 

The week started slowly, with 

seemingly endless debates on the 

rules of procedure, delaying delegates 

from discussing the actual content of 

the treaty. This tactic seemed to be 

an attempt by countries with special 

interests in oil and plastic production 

to stall meaningful discussions and 

weaken the resulting treaty. Ultimately, 

however, the negotiations ended with 

some positive action. Delegates agreed 

to develop a ‘zero draft’ of the treaty 

– a full draft that will form the basis of 

discussions during the next round of 

negotiations in Nairobi in November 

2023 (INC-3). 

GCT is calling on world leaders to 

agree an ambitious, legally binding 

Global Plastics Treaty that addresses 

social inequalities and ends plastic 

pollution by building an innovative 

circular economy rooted in evidence, 

that protects humans and biodiversity, 

and promotes human rights and 

environmental justice. 

Our message to delegates is to lead 

the way towards a world free from 

plastic pollution. Don’t delay or hesitate, 

don’t wait for the treaty, be ahead of the 

curve. There’s no time to waste, and we 

need global action now. 

Luis Vayas Valdivieso © Kiara Worth | IISD - ENB 

While we were in Paris, we spoke with 

Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, 

Ecuador’s Ambassador to the UK 

and one of the elected Chairs of 

the Intergovernmental Negotiation 

Committee. 

Can you explain what has been 

discussed at INC-2, what will you 

hope to discuss at INC-3, and how 

we, as civil society, scientists and 

community groups, can support you 

and other delegations to build a 

strong and binding plastics treaty? 

We are currently working on a ‘zero 

draft’, a text that will be used to create 

the future treaty. The mandate that we 

want from this negotiation is a text for 

the inter-sessional discussions. Now, 

the second part of your question is 

of great importance. Ecuador has 

been one of the leading countries in 

proposing that civil society and NGOs, 

and the scientific community should 

all participate. We already have great 

communication and strong links with 

the scientific community; they are the 

experts in the matter. 

What we would like to see now 

is a formal relationship with these 

stakeholders, meaning the scientific 

community, both during the 

negotiations and hopefully later on 

with the implementation of the treaty. 

We need data, we need information, 

and we need more scientific evidence. 

We have evidence already, but it’s still 

developing, and every day we know 

more about how dangerous plastic 

pollution is, both for the environment 

and also for human health. 

We know the Ecuadorian delegation 

is proposing for the Global Plastics 

Treaty to be signed in Galapagos, 

and for it to be called the ‘Galapagos 

Treaty’. Why is it important for the 

world to sign this once-in-a-lifetime 

treaty in Galapagos? 

Ecuador has received this suggestion 

from different organisations, and from 

other countries as well. As you know, 

Galapagos is fragile, and it is suffering 

like other islands in the world from 

plastic pollution. Ninety-six percent of 

the plastic pollution that we receive 

in the Galapagos Islands comes from 

abroad. Although Ecuador is making 

great efforts to protect the Islands, 

and we have specific legislation for the 

Galapagos Islands, it is not enough. 

We even have regional efforts together 

with Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica, 

with CMAR (the Eastern Tropical Pacific 

Marine Corridor) – but unfortunately, 

it is still not enough. We need global 

solutions for global problems, and this is 

a global problem. 

Treaties, conventions and agreements 

are always signed in a distinctive and 

representative place. We have the 

Stockholm Convention, the Basel 

Convention, the Rotterdam Convention, 

we have the Paris Agreement on climate 

change, so we have proposed that 

Galapagos should be the place to sign 

this treaty. The Galapagos Treaty is more 

than just a name, it is what we want to 

show to the international community: 

that we need to fight against plastic 

pollution to preserve places like the 

Galapagos Islands. 

Finally, could you please tell us 

about the specific problem of plastic 

pollution from fisheries? 

This is a notorious problem that 

we are currently making a priority in 

these negotiations. Fisheries, or fishing 

gear, are polluting the environment 

in alarming amounts. Here’s some 

data – 29% of all fishing lines that are 

produced end up in the oceans. Six 

percent of fishing nets end up in the 

water, accidentally or deliberately. 

Almost 560 species are endangered 

because of the fishing gear that winds 

up in the ocean. We have a lot of room 

for improvement. There is already plenty 

of discussion about this, but in Ecuador, 

we believe there needs to be even 

more conversation and awareness of 

the problems surrounding fishing gear. 

There needs to be a change in how 

we manufacture those items, which are 

produced with plastic and are severely 

polluting the ocean. And lastly, it is 

important and relevant for Galapagos to 

work together with fisheries, fishers and 

with the industry. 


17

Little vermilion flycatcher © Thomas Hopmann 

RESTORING FLOREANA: 

A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE 

by Kelly Hague 

O 

ur Senior Philanthropy Manager, Kelly Hague, visited Floreana last year, and saw 

first-hand the fantastic impact that the Restoring Floreana project is going to 

have for the people and wildlife that call the island their home. 

am standing in a field on Floreana 

I island, damp mist swirling 

around and the daylight quickly 

disappearing, as I photograph a 

bearded man in his new cow shed. 

A busload of people is waiting for 

me, wondering why I said I needed 

photographs before it got dark. I am 

so excited to be here with this man. I 

would never have imagined that this 

would be one of the highlights of my 

first trip to Galapagos! 

Claudio Cruz explains how the 

Restoring Floreana project has paid to 

build this new shed. He has put some 

of his own money into it as well to make 

it bigger. This empty, lifeless structure 

embodies his hopes of a better future. 

Claudio is not ‘just’ a farmer. He 

represents many people, on Floreana, 

in Galapagos and living far from 


Kelly with Claudio Cruz in his cow shed © Kelly Hague 

this island, who have been tirelessly 

plotting, planning, and working to 

reverse the terrible destruction that 

has been causing havoc to Floreana for 

many, many years. And one of the main 

driving forces behind the original idea 

was Claudio’s brother, Felipe Cruz. 

From the 1980s until his sad death in 

2018, Floreana-born Felipe became a 

passionate advocate for conservation 

in Galapagos, inspiring many who met 

him. He was distressed at the demise 

of local wildlife thanks to goats, pigs, 

donkeys, rats and cats, which had all 

been brought to Floreana by humans, 

and he witnessed these invasive species 

devouring the eggs and young of birds, 

snakes and turtles, eating seeds and 

plants found nowhere else, destroying 

habitat and trampling nests. Twelve 

species have become extinct on this 

one island, with another 55 highly 

threatened. 

I finish taking my photographs and 

we climb into the truck. As we drive 

back down to the small town, Claudio 

reminisces. 

“As children we used to ride down 

this road, which was a dirt track 

back then, on a donkey, and have 

competitions to see who could spot the 

most vermilion flycatchers on the way – I 

might see 20, my brother or whoever 

was with me, perhaps 21. I have nice 

memories of watching vermilions 

hunting up and down.” 

Sadly, this beautiful red bird is now 

extinct from Floreana, but the project 

team is looking at the feasibility of 

reintroducing it, along with the other 11 

locally extinct species, once the rats and 

feral cats are gone. 

But there are other important reasons 

why the restoration of Floreana means 

so much to him and other locals. “The 

feral goats, pigs and donkeys have been 

sorted – it is now just the rats and cats 

that are left. We spend a lot of money 

poisoning rats as they destroy crops 

and corn.“ 

Claudio’s cows are now fenced in, no 

longer roaming free across the island 

and devastating precious habitat. Other 

farmers will be doing the same in the 

following months, with more livestock 

enclosures built. Claudio explained that 

he currently needs one hectare for one 

cow. “After the baiting, I should be 

able to have 30 cows per hectare as I’ll 

be able to grow feed for them, without 

it being destroyed by rats.” My jaw 

dropped. 

“All my harvest should be successful 

so I will have more income. Species will 

be reintroduced, and more tourists will 

want to visit Floreana to see them.” 

He is excited to perhaps one day see 

Floreana tortoises roaming across the 

island, fulfilling their important role as 

natural dispersers of seeds. He would 

love to see large ground finches. Many 

older locals would be excited to see the 

beautiful red vermilion flycatcher, now 

just a childhood memory. 

“Thirty-eight years ago, I saw the last 

large ground finches. A couple of them. 

I feel very privileged.” 

As I leave, Claudio expresses his 

deep thanks to everyone at GCT and 

to our supporters and project partners, 

who are helping to change the lives of 

people on Floreana by restoring their 

beloved home. It must feel strange 

for them to have such international 

interest in their small island, but thank 

goodness, as this is what is needed. 

Floreana has been recognised as one 

of the most important island restoration 

projects in the world. 

I was personally involved in work to 

eradicate rats and mice from the island 

of South Georgia, another globally 

important project, and I know of the 

success of previous eradication projects 

in Galapagos and elsewhere. Bird 

populations can very quickly ‘jump’ 

back. On Rabida in Galapagos, the 

Rabida gecko, thought to be extinct, 

was rediscovered. I want my working 

life to make as big a difference in global 

conservation terms as possible. I know 

that Floreana is a project that can do 

this and at the very least could help the 

55 endangered species on this island. 

I leave the small town determined to 

continue trying to help Claudio, Felipe’s 

memory, and everyone else involved. 

And deeply grateful for all of the GCT 

supporters who are, and have been, 

involved in this vital work. 

As children we used 

to ride down this road, 

which was a dirt track 

back then, on a donkey, 

and have competitions 

to see who could spot 

the most vermilion 

flycatchers on the way 

– I might see 20, my 

brother or whoever was 

with me, perhaps 21. 

I have nice memories 

of watching vermilions 

hunting up and down. 

Large ground finch © Tim & Kate Bradley 


19

SUPPORTER NEWS 

© Dan Shipp 

Over halfway through 2023 and nine months into our new strategy, all of us at GCT are excited by 

the prospects for the rest of the year and beyond. We have a new CEO, a new website, our 2024 

cruises are almost full and you, our supporters, continue to amaze us with your generosity and 

fundraising endeavours. 

Our 2023 Raffle: Win a Galapagos cruise and 

other fabulous prizes! 

For our 2023 raffle we have again secured some amazing 

prizes! Tickets – costing just £3 each – are on sale from 

now until 19 October, and we will hold the draw just after 

our Galapagos Day event. You can buy tickets online at 

galapagosconservation.org.uk/raffle or via the back form 

of this magazine. 

Please note that, as part of our ongoing commitment to 

reducing our paper usage, once again we won’t be sending 

out books of tickets. 

We’re so very grateful to all our partners and the companies 

who have donated prizes, so please buy lots of tickets to 

help us deliver our conservation work and save Galapagos’ 

precious wildlife! 

1 st Prize: Luxury Galapagos Cruise from Metropolitan Touring 

worth $11,286 (a double cabin for two people onboard Yacht 

La Pinta for a 4-night, 5-day itinerary). Sailings depart every 

10 days. 

© Metropolitan Touring 

Changes to our membership fees 

A few months ago we took the difficult but necessary 

decision to increase prices across some of our 

membership categories, the first time we have 

increased our fees since 2014. This small increase 

is needed to help cover the rising costs of printing 

all the materials and servicing memberships. 

Membership is a vital source of income for GCT and 

your membership fees are fundamental to helping 

deliver critical conservation work in Galapagos. We 

are immensely grateful to all of you who have been 

long-standing members and support us through 

our appeals, adoptions, online shop purchases and 

raising funds in other ways. 

Our new regular membership categories 

are as follows: 

Galapagos Friend: £4 per month or £48 per year 

Galapagos Protector: £6 per month or £72 per year 

Galapagos Benefactor: £9 per month or £108 per year 

For supporters who are able to give a little more, 

we also have a Galapagos Friend for Life category for 

£600, or you might consider becoming a Galapagos 

Guardian for £2,000. All these categories come 

with a range of benefits. If you would like to discuss 

your membership, or would like to join GCT, please 

contact ryan@gct.org 

GCT Cruises 

2 nd Prize: Nikon PROSTAFF P7 10 x42 

Binoculars (worth £259) 

3 rd Prize: Craghoppers £200 Voucher 

to spend on their clothing and accessories 

Other raffle prizes donated by: Rhyme & Reason, Big Wild 

Thought, M&S, Crocodiles of the World, Booby, Colchester Zoo 

After the success of our 2022 cruise, we arranged a 

GCT supporter cruise for June/July 2024. This sold 

out so quickly that we put together another cruise 

for June 2024 which is also now almost full, with 

one cabin remaining. Find out more: 

bit.ly/GalapagosConservationTrustCruise 

Please contact kelly@gct.org if you would like more 

information on the 2024 cruise, or if you would like 

to be informed as soon as any future cruises are 

organised. These cruises are a special opportunity 

to not only see the wonders of Galapagos, but to 

meet local conservationists, visit GCT projects and 

contribute to saving the wildlife you will witness 

during your visit. 


New GCT website! 

Those of you who are regular visitors to our website, 

or who receive our monthly eNewsletter, will have 

noticed that we have recently launched a new 

website. We worked with Studio Republic, a small 

web agency that specialises in developing websites 

for charities and non-profits, with a focus on usability 

and accessibility. We have listened to your feedback 

from various surveys, and we hope you will agree 

that the new site is modern, easy to navigate and 

full of inspiring content, with an improved donation 

and shopping experience. Importantly for us, it will 

also be much easier to maintain and update. Visit 

galapagosconservation.org.uk and let us know 

what you think! 

Fundraising 

Ecuadorian artist Diana Mercado donated a clutch bag with 

her painting, Baile de Inmigrante, created by acclaimed British 

designer, Anya Hindmarch, for a raffle to benefit GCT. The 

bag was raffled off at The Gallery at Green & Stone in Fulham 

in May and over £600 was raised for GCT. A huge thank 

you to Diana, the lovely team at Green & Stone and Anya 

Hindmarch. 

Crocodiles of the World – the only zoo in the UK to 

breed Galapagos giant tortoises, based near Burford in 

Oxfordshire – is a proud supporter of GCT. Their giant 

tortoise exhibit remains one of the most popular displays 

(along with the tortoises’ year-old offspring), and the Giant 

Tortoise Experiences are as popular as ever. The team is 

looking forward to more involvement and collaboration with 

GCT in the years to come and supporting giant tortoise 

conservation work. 

crocodilesoftheworld.co.uk 

Iguanas From Above © Amy MacLeod 

Iguanas From Above 

Phase 3 of Iguanas From Above is now live! This 

innovative project combines drone technology 

with citizen science to monitor the health of marine 

iguana populations in Galapagos. It is difficult to 

collect data on marine iguanas with traditional 

field methods, due to the remote, rocky and often 

inaccessible sites most colonies live in, so the 

project team has been using drones to photograph 

the coastlines of the Islands remotely. 

Individual photos are then uploaded to Zooniverse, 

a web portal for citizen science. Here, public 

volunteers can join scientists in analysing the 

photos for the presence of marine iguanas, other 

wildlife and plastic pollution. Anyone with a phone 

or laptop and an internet connection can take 

part, and the project needs your help – why not 

take part and join a community of over 6,000 other 

volunteers! 

iguanasfromabove.com 

© Crocodiles of the World 

Artist David Pollock is supporting GCT by donating the 

profits from his new book, Galápagos Sketchbook, which is 

filled with beautiful watercolour illustrations and sketches of 

the Archipelago’s unique wildlife. The book is a replica of 

the sketchbook that he has carried with him everywhere for 

the past three decades, and features species including giant 

tortoises, blue-footed boobies and marine iguanas. 

davidpollockartist.co.uk 


21

GLOBAL RELEVANCE 

GALAPAGOS AND THE 

ANTARCTIC: A LOOK 

BENEATH THE SURFACE 

by Jonathan Green 

Galapagos penguin © Jonathan Green 

V 

isitors 

to the tropical Galapagos Islands are frequently reminded of the connectivity this remote island 

ecosystem has with a much more frigid part of our planet: Antarctica. 

Not simply because we find 

penguins on the Equator – the 

endemic Galapagos penguin – but 

because of the abundance of coldwater 

species, found particularly in 

the western and southern areas of the 

Archipelago. These waters are enriched 

and cooled by ocean currents that 

almost certainly have their origins in 

the far south, quite possibly the deep 

Weddell Sea. 

No matter how isolated an island 

ecosystem may appear, global 

connectivity through ocean currents and 

atmospheric circulation demonstrates 

how our planet is a single global entity, 

where cause and effect are felt in every 

part of the Earth. 

Galapagos is not only enriched by 

the upwelling of nutrient-abundant 

waters; many of its resident and visiting 

species hail from the Southern Ocean. 

The aforementioned penguins, the 

Galapagos fur seal, the waved albatross 

and the humpback whale either have 

their origins here or are seasonal visitors 

travelling between the two areas. 

Countless smaller marine vertebrates, 

along with invertebrates and marine 

algae, are swept north to the Equator 

by the Humboldt current. Huge 

plankton blooms occur as the cold 

nutrient-rich waters from the south meet 

the warm tropical waters of the north. 

This not only creates a massive food 

source for all marine life, but also plays 

a crucial role in climatic balance and 

change. Phytoplankton remove carbon 

directly from the atmosphere, which is 

then consumed and sequestered by 

filter feeders, and progressively through 

the food chain by apex predators such 

as sharks. Blue carbon, as this oceanic 

carbon storage is now known, is fast 

becoming the focus of climate change 

mitigation efforts, as the ability of 

the oceans to absorb anthropogenic 

carbon, from activities such as the 

burning of fossil fuels, far exceeds that 

of the land. 

For over two decades I have led 

expedition travel to Antarctica, both 

on land and underwater, and I have 

worked as a scientist in Galapagos 

for three decades. During this time I 

have seen changes and challenges in 

both regions, such as the dangers of 

introduced species that can so easily 

arrive on vessels, or even in the tread 

of a hiking boot in the case of invasive 

plants or pathogens. Or avian flu, 

which has caused mass die out of both 

domestic and wild bird populations 

around the world, and which could so 

easily be spread by visitors to either of 

these fragile places. 

The question as to why we then 

continue with tourism to either area 

is often discussed, but the answer is 

quite simple. In Galapagos over 97% 

of the local population lives directly or 

indirectly from tourism. The alternative 

would be large-scale fishing, which, 

as we have seen worldwide, is hugely 

destructive on so many levels. For 

Antarctica, mining and extracting the 

untapped resources (already a point 

of focus for the Sauron-like eye of 

industrial mining corporations and 

governments) would bring disastrous 

consequences. 

We will never protect what we don’t 

know or understand. Education through 

experience, combined with scientific 

research, is the only way that active 

conservation and resource management 

will provide alternatives to activities 

such as industrial fishing and mining. 


EVENTS 

For more information about events, to book tickets or register your interest 

in attending, simply visit galapagosconservation.org.uk/events or call us 

on 020 7399 7440. 

GALAPAGOS DAY 

19 October 2023, 7.30-10pm (doors open at 6.30pm) 

Royal Geographical Society, London 

Join us at the Royal Geographical Society for the 2023 

edition of Galapagos Day, where we will be exploring the 

theme of rewilding in Galapagos. 

We will enjoy an evening of fascinating talks from speakers 

including Professor Alastair Driver, Director of Rewilding 

Britain, Birgit Fessl, Coordinator of the Galapagos Land 

Bird Conservation Plan at the Charles Darwin Foundation, 

and GCT Ambassador Dr Sarah Darwin, of the Museum für 

Naturkunde Berlin. We will hear about projects including the 

restoration of Floreana island and efforts to save iconic bird 

species like the little vermilion flycatcher and the Critically 

Endangered mangrove finch, with the chance to network 

and meet our speakers and staff after the talks. 

Tickets are now on sale for £15 (£10 for students). Buy 

yours via the back form of this magazine or online at 

galapagosconservation.org.uk/galapagos-day-2023 

GALAPAGOS MERCHANDISE 

New! Alberto the Waved 

Albatross storybook 

Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, 

we are excited to launch our brand new 

children’s storybook, which is the third in our 

series of Galapagos Journeys connecting land, 

air and sea. The book, aimed at primary school 

children (7-11 years old) in both the UK and 

Galapagos, addresses conservation challenges 

including plastic pollution and overfishing, and is 

bilingual in English and Spanish. Order online at 

galapagosconservation.org.uk/shop or via the 

payment form at the back of this magazine for 

just £10. 

2024 

Galapagos 

calendar 

Our stunning 2024 

Galapagos wildlife 

calendar is now 

available to pre-order. 

Filled with amazing 

photos of the unique 

and wonderful 

wildlife of Galapagos, 

including the winner 

of our 2023 photography competition. 

Only £10! 

The calendar is kindly sponsored by Latin Routes. 

Christmas cards 

All cards read: “Seasons Greetings | Felices Fiestas’ 

and come in packs of ten with envelopes. 

Each design is £5 a pack or £9 for two. 

Order these and other Galapagos merchandise using the form on the back page, by calling us on 020 7399 7440, 

or online at galapagosconservation.org.uk/shop 


23

JOIN US FOR... 

GALAPAGOS DAY 

Thursday 19 October 2023 

6:30 - 10pm 

Royal Geographical Society, London 

Tickets £15 / Students £10 

INTRODUCING OUR SPEAKERS! 

Professor Alastair Driver 

Rewilding Britain 

Dr Birgit Fessl 

Charles Darwin Foundation 

Dr Sarah Darwin 

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin 

For more information and to buy tickets 

please scan the QR code or visit our website 

bit.ly/GalapagosDay2023Tickets 

Photo credits L-R: © Luis Ortiz Catedral, Enzo Reyes, Claire Cockcroft, Chris Moakes, Carlos Cuenca Solana

Autumn/Winter 2023 - Galapagos Matters - Galapagos Conservation Trust

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?