Galapagos Marine Biodiversity Fund
In 2006, Ecoventura, together with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), established the Galapagos Marine Biodiversity Fund (GMBF) with the objective to strengthen the local communities’ ability to manage natural resources through environmental education and marine conservation. In October 2010, Ecoventura Executive President, Santiago Dunn, was invited to serve a three-year term on the WWF National Council that meets twice a year in Washington DC.
Ecoventura originally pledged a donation of $80,000 annually (in cash and kind services) for the first three years from 2007-2009 and then increased the pledge to $100,000 annually from 2010 to 2013. Since the fund’s inception, $238,522.00 in contributions have gone directly to the various projects they support.
WWF Newsletters
Since 2007, the fund has provided 27 scholarships to local students to attend a two year technical career program at the Galapagos Academic Institute for the Arts & Sciences (GAIAS), part of the University of San Francisco de Quito’s Galapagos campus located on the Island of San Cristobal. In August 2009, the first graduating class of 14 students completed their studies in environmental management, tourism administration and business administration and are ready to pursue their careers. The objective is to form community leaders to help manage conservation and be prepared to take a stand against illegal fishing that threatens the Islands ecosystem.
See graduating Class of 2009
In 2010, the fund provided scholarships for 9 students from different high schools in Puerto Ayora to attend an ecology course at Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
Funds from GMBF have also been allocated to benefit families of local fishermen by development of a micro-enterprise for the fisherman’s wives to manage. This will provide an alternate means of income and also set an example to create other tourism related businesses and reduce the need to fish. This particular Conservation International project involved converting a fishing boat into a restaurant and boutique. A 30-year lease was secured from the municipality and is located along the boardwalk along Wreck Bay on San Cristobal Island providing a service for tourists as well as benefiting community development. For the new business to thrive, technical assistance will be provided to improve the quality of artisan products sold and the women will be trained to manage and market their business. Support has also been provided to a Fishermen’s women group OMCA on Isabela Island.
The fund supports tourism through collection of used oil from tourism boats on Santa Cruz Island and to the Galapagos tourism chamber CAPTURGAL to conduct an awareness campaign of the tourism quality project in Galapagos.
Because the Galapagos National Park lacks inadequate funding, trained personnel and equipment, it is challenged to prevent illegal fishing by industrial scale boats. In response, the GMBF together with WildAid supports the maintenance and repair of park patrol boats while also helping to make current small-scale fishing practices more efficient.
Support was given to the GNP for the vessel Monitoring System (WMS) to control and patrol the Galapagos Marine Reserve and also to a fishermen cooperative COPROPAG with equipment in support of sustainable management of fisheries in Galapagos, to COPESAN to monitor sea cucumbers during the 2009 and 2010 seasons and a shark tagging project jointly with the park and station.
Through the deployment of the Tiburon Martillo, a permanent floating station near the Islands of Wolf and Darwin, park rangers can patrol the area for illegal shark finning and long-line fishing activity within the protected marine reserve. The marine reserve surrounding these two remote Islands supports some of the planet’s most unique biodiversity and is one of the world’s premier diving areas. However, it has also been identified as the most threatened due to continued presence of industrial fishing boats. To date, park statistics demonstrate the highest number of fishing violations have occurred in this area. Hammerhead and other shark species around the world are being harvested primarily for their fins and the Galapagos Marine Reserve remains one of the last regions where these creatures can be seen gathered by the hundreds. It is vital to establish a local and permanent surveillance and patrolling platform that will deter illegal fishing vessels from entering these waters.
The fund also provided financial support in the populated town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno in San Cristobal for a computer lab for a primary school, analysis of environmental indicators to the Municipality of San Cristobal, a beach cleaning project, alternative management of sea lions in Wreck Bay
Recommendations:
Join WWF (www.wwf.org), or better yet make a donation to the Galapagos Marine Biodiversity Fund that specifically targets environmental education and marine conservation by strengthening the local communities’ ability to manage natural resources. Ecoventura has pledged to raise $80,000.00 per year for the first three years.
Join NativeEnergy www.nativeenergy.com and offset your daily carbon emissions.
Join the Galapagos Conservency www.galapagos.org and help protect the Islands for future generations of adventure travelers.
Involve the kids! You can bring school supplies with you to Galapagos to donate to a local school through a local non-profit organization called Galapagos ICE. Contact Emily Pozo before arrival at www.galapagosice.org.