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Named for their endemic large tortoises, the Galapagos Islands, a small
volcanic archipelago 1,000 kilometres west of Ecuador in the Pacific
Ocean, are some of the most unspoiled ecological and evolutionary
treasures in the world. Made famous by Charles Darwin after his visit in
1835, the islands are known internationally for their extraordinary
beauty and unique wildlife that evolved in isolation from the South
American mainland over several million years. The islands and
surrounding marine ecosystems
are widely recognised for the remarkable adaptive radiation shown by
their plants and animals. Both the flora and fauna display a high degree
of endemism, as would be expected in such an isolated tropical
archipelago. Numerous communities, ecological interactions, and species
adaptations are unique to the islands.
Isabella, the largest of the islands, is about 132 kilometres long and
makes up more than half of the land area of the islands. Its 1,689-metre
peak is the highest in the archipelago. Parts of the Galapagos were
first designated as a wildlife sanctuary by Ecuador in 1935. In 1959 the
sanctuary became the Galapagos National Park.
Although many plants and animals are protected by law, and most of the
islands are protected by the national park, the wildlife of the
Galapagos Islands is increasingly threatened. As on other ecologically
fragile islands, the arrival of humans continues to cause the decline of
species through fishing and collecting, and most significantly through
habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native species.
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