Conservation Challenges

When the Charles Darwin Foundation was created in 1959, the human population in Galapagos was minimal. Tourism was essentially non-existent; fishing was at subsistence levels only; the agricultural community was small; and the Research Station was being built, board by board, by young scientists and local residents.

Fifty years later, that landscape has changed dramatically and, to continue our work to preserve the archipelago, Galapagos Conservancy has changed, too.

We remain committed to the biological research that is still needed in Galapagos and which has been at the core of the work of the Charles Darwin Foundation, our primary partner, for the last five decades. But today, Galapagos Conservancy supports a much broader research agenda, designed to ensure that decision makers have the insight, data, and context in which to make critical public policy decisions, as well as a wide range of sophisticated conservation and management programs on the ground.
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Galapagos Conservancy thanks the UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication for allowing us to post the wonderful collection of student-produced multimedia stories about life in the Galapagos Islands — LIVING GALAPAGOS. Their project appears above, and a brief commentary appears below.

For all of the attention that Charles Darwin brought to the Galápagos Islands, most people know surprisingly little about them. Since Darwin’s writings 200 years ago, the people of Galápagos – both residents and tourists – have fundamentally changed the natural habitat of the formerly pristine archipelago.

The project’s debut follows a month-long foreign reporting assignment in which 21 journalism students, one faculty member, and four professional journalists traveled to this unique ecosystem in summer 2009 to explore the impact that humans have had on the formerly pristine archipelago. They witnessed conservation, natural beauty, and a welcoming culture. They also saw a host of environmental and cultural issues that leave the Galápagos Islands at a tipping point.

The students, guided by the faculty and professionals, used photos, audio, video, 360º panoramic photos, information graphics and design to examine the various environmental and cultural issues that have arisen in Galapagos. The stories include themes ranging from invasive species and illegal fishing to surfing and the tourism industry. The stories of the people and their islands make up Living Galápagos, a documentary multimedia project that examines the battle for balance between man and nature.

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