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New Ecuadorean Law Crucial For Galapagos Island, Says WWF

fishing boat July 3rd, 1997

(En Español)

GLAND, Switzerland -- WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature called today on the Ecuadorean authorities to ensure that a new law meant to regulate the management of the Galapagos islands is approved soon enough to address a variety of negative trends affecting the biologically and historically important archipelago.

The international conservation organization issued its plea as it released the first of a new annual series of reports on conservation and human trends in Galapagos produced in collaboration with its associate in Ecuador, Fundacion Natura. The *Galapagos Report* surveys different issues affecting the human and wildlife population in Galapagos, such as human migration to the islands; production of trash, collection and recycling; illegal fishing and introduction of alien species to the archipelago.

"The most important conclusion that can be made from the report is that there is a clear need to bring under control the impacts that a massive influx of people is having on the Galapagos environment," said Miguel Pellerano, WWF Galapagos Coordinator. "For that to happen, it is essential that the authorities establish a strong legal framework showing what people can and cannot do in and around the islands."

According to the report, the rate of population growth for Galapagos was 6 percent between 1982 and 1990, while it was only 2 percent for the rest of Ecuador. Even though families living in Galapagos are now having fewer children (3.5 per household in 1990 versus 3.7 in 1982), the archipelago's human population has increased significantly (from about 6,000 in 1982 to over 16,000 in 1996). The growth is largely due to new arrivals from the mainland.

The increase has created problems for the already limited structure of public services available to the galapaguenos. For example, while the health services in Galapagos are better in comparison than those found on the Ecuadorean mainland, the quality of these services has seriously deteriorated in the last decade. The number of hospital beds available per 1,000 inhabitants decreased from 3 to 2 between 1986 and 1995, and the number of doctors per 1,000 inhabitants has also gone down from about 22 to 15 between 1983 and 1993.

Other services are still very basic. About 2,375 tonnes of trash are collected each year in the main city of Puerto Ayora, just to be thrown and burned without any kind of recycling at a dump located just 4 kilometers outside town, very close to one of the city's main sources of fresh water.

Not surprisingly, in a poll conducted in 1996 in Puerto Ayora, 80 percent of the local inhabitants surveyed were against allowing new immigrants to come from the mainland.

"But controls such as this cannot properly be implemented until certain legal ambiguities have been properly resolved by the competent legislative authorities," explained Mr. Pellerano. "The Ecuadorean Constitution recognizes the need for Galapagos to have a special administrative regime in order to ensure its conservation. Yet, until now it has not been possible to properly implement this constitutional precept because of the lack of agreement over what would be an adequate law for the islands."

During the last two years two different draft laws have been vetoed by the governments of Sixto Duran Ballen and deposed president Abdala Bucaran. The vetoes were due, in part, to major disagreements about which level of government would have the main say with respect to the future of the islands. "It is a delicate situation, because Galapagos is both, a province of Ecuador where people have the freedom to go and settle, and also one of the country's most vulnerable protected areas. It is precisely this double personality that needs to be reconciled by the legislative authorities," said Mr. Pellerano.

Last April, increased reports of illegal fishing incidents and the shooting of park warden Julio Lopez during a patrol operation prompted the new government of President Fabian Alarcon to issue an emergency decree banning any new migrations to the islands and all non-artisanal fishing. The decree also gave the new Ministry of the Environment 60 days to present Congress with a new draft special law taking into consideration all interests involved.

"As it happens with most protected areas around the world, the main challenge for the authorities is to reconcile the human needs of the people of Galapagos with the urgent conservation needs of the area," explained Mr. Pellerano. "The unique scenery and wild species found in Galapagos attracted more than 60,000 visitors in 1996 and it is clear that the islands are a great resource for Ecuador; but this resource needs to be treated carefully and with a clear consciousness of what the limits of Nature are. This is why it is so important to bring Galapagos out of the legal dead-end road in which it is presently."

-END-

For more information, please contact:

*Irma Larrea and Miguel Pellerano, Fundacion Natura, Quito, Ecuador, at the following numbers:

Telephone: +593 2 447 922, +593 2 457 253, +593 2 435 797,
+593 2 466 992, +593 2 466 993 and +593 2 466 081
Fax +593 2 434 449
e-mail: ilarrea@natura.ecx.ec
mpellera@uio.satnet.net

or

*Javier Arreaza, WWF International, Gland, Switzerland, tel. +41 22 364 9550, fax: +41 22 364 8307, e-mail: jarreaza@wwfnet.org