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Human Presence
The Galapagos Islands developed in isolation since they emerged from the sea a few million years ago, but this isolation has been eroding ever since their discovery in 1535. For over 400 years man has had an influence on the archipelago’s ecosystems and evolutionary processes.
As early as the mid 1600s, buccaneers used the islands as a base from which to attack mainland ports and sea routes used to transport valuables along the coast. From the 1700s to the mid 1800s, whalers used the islands as a base to hunt the rich waters to the west of the archipelago, while fur sealers harvested the valuable pelts of the Galapagos fur seal. Slowly the archipelago became better known to the world, through the maps of privateers such as William Dampier, whalers such as James Colnett, and the accounts of Charles Darwin in his book, The Voyage of the Beagle. Annexed by Ecuador in 1832, the islands were subsequently used for agriculture, fishing, incarcerating criminals, harvesting of Orchilla – lichen, and harvesting and processing of giant tortoises for their oil. During the Second World War, the government of Ecuador allowed the United States to use the island of Baltra as a military base.
Despite this long history of human interaction with Galapagos, population growth remained relatively slow up until the early 1970s, at which time residents numbered approximately 4,000. Since that time a combination of factors has lead to a process of rapid and sustained growth.
Between 1991 and 2007, the resident population more than doubled. The population stands at 24,000 legal residents, 1,800 temporary residents and up to 5,000 residents whose status in Galapagos is characterized as “irregular.”
Causes of this rapid population growth
Galapagos tourism. Since its beginnings in the 1960s, tourism has been the most important factor contributing to population growth. Over the past 15 years, gross income generated by tourism has increased by an average of 14% each year. This growth is reflected in the increase in available beds (in both hotels and on tourist boats) from 1,928 in 1991 to 3,473 in 2006 and the rise in the number of visitors to Galapagos from 40,000 in 1990 to more than 145,000 in 2006. At present, Galapagos tourism generates $418M annually, of which an estimated $63M enters the local economy (equal to 51% of the Galapagos economy). The growth in tourism requires ever-increasing infrastructure and human resources. It has also resulted in the growth of local small enterprises, which, in turn, contribute to increased immigration.
Poor economic conditions on mainland Ecuador. During the 1980s and 1990s, Ecuador faced declining oil prices (its primary export) and costly border issues with Peru and Colombia. Between 1981 and 1991, the Sucre, the national currency at the time, lost 98% of its value. Real per capita income eroded, inflation was out of control, and bank interest rates topped 70%. By the year 2000, 9.5 million of the country’s 13.5 million inhabitants lived below the poverty level. These conditions caused an exodus of Ecuadorians. According to the Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio (22 Nov. 2001), during the 1990s alone, between 15-20% of the nation’s residents fled the country. While most sought to establish themselves in Spain and the United States, others chose not to flee the country but instead relocate in Galapagos, one of the few bright spots in the beleaguered national economy.
International demand for marine species
Although local fisheries have played a much smaller part in the Galapagos economy than tourism and some other activities, in the early to mid 1990s, the high international price for sea cucumbers and the initial abundance of this species in Galapagos provided another economic incentive for migration from the mainland. Today fishing represents only 4% of the Galapagos economy but has a much larger social and political impact.
Public sector investments and subsidies. The Ecuadorian government began to make significant expenditures in public and institutional infrastructure during Ecuador’s oil boom (1972-1983). It also established transportation, energy, and public sector salary subsidies because of the archipelago’s isolation and the fact that it was considered a hardship area for residents and public sector employees. Public works programs and administrative positions lured immigrants during an era jokingly referred to as “the bureaucratization of Galapagos.” On a per capita basis, the islands continue to receive more government funding than any of the nation’s other provinces. Improvements in infrastructure and public services, combined with ongoing subsidies, have made the islands an increasingly desirable place to live.
Impacts of population growth
In the larger protected areas and at visitor sites, the impact of increased numbers of visitors and residents has been fairly well managed through standard protected area management techniques, including trails, guides to accompany visitors, fixed itineraries, and a limited number of tourism concessions (MacFarland 2001). The Galapagos National Park Service monitors visitor sites and can close sites, increase necessary infrastructure such as stairs or walkways, or change itineraries in response to growing pressures.
The impacts in the inhabited portions of the archipelago have been much more pronounced. Increasing numbers of visitors and residents have resulted in a rapid growth in physical infrastructure and ever-increasing demands for public services.
As the human population in Galapagos has grown, the number of airports in the islands has increased from one to three, the number of flights from the continent have increased from a few flights per week in the 1970s to an average of six flights per day today, the number of cargo ships and the amount of cargo continue to increase, and increasingly more fuel is brought to the islands increasing the risk of oil spills such as that of the cargo ship Jessica in 2001. Commercial flights to Galapagos increased by 193% from 2001 to 2006 and more private flights are arriving from other countries (Cruz, Martínez and Causton, 2007). New access routes overcome natural barriers that protect the islands from the arrival of new species. Any increase in flights, new access routes, and cargo ships will potentially bring an increasing number of invasive species – the greatest threat to the archipelago. Invasive species links to the page focusing on that issue
For more information about drivers of population growth and the impact of this growth, see Galapagos at Risk (Watkins and Cruz), Tourism, the Economy, Population Growth, and Conservation in Galapagos (Epler), and The Galapagos Report.
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