Press Release announcing Project Isabela's completion.

Background and current status

Activities associated with what has become known as Project Isabela began in 1995 in response to the knowledge that the native tortoise population on Isabela would be unable to co-exist, let alone thrive, in the face of the growing population of feral goats. Approximately 25 years earlier, the first of these alien inhabitants crossed the Perry Isthmus from southern Isabela. They quickly began to reproduce and to overrun northern Isabela, causing serious erosion and greatly reducing the presence of tree ferns and other plants that are important for providing shade, water, and food for tortoises.

In April of 1995, a summit meeting was held in the UK among scientists and protected area managers working in Galapagos to: a) determine the scope and nature of the introduced goat problem on Alcedo Volcano on Isabela, and b) determine whether the resources—both financial and technical—could be amassed to eradicate the introduced mammal population on Alcedo and to restore the affected ecosystem of the remainder of northern Isabela.

One of the main conclusions of the summit was that earlier eradication efforts, which had been attempted in isolated parts of Isabela and Santiago Islands, would have limited impact. It was decided that a more aggressive, ecosystem-wide approach was necessary and that such an effort would require new technologies and hunting techniques. In October of 1995, the “Campaign to Save Alcedo” was launched to begin to build the base of knowledge and experience that would be needed for a future island-wide ecosystem restoration effort.

In 1997, the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Galapagos National Park, Galapagos Conservancy, and a number of eradication and control experts from around the world participated in an international workshop to design a large-scale project to return all of northern Isabela to as nearly pristine condition as possible. The project concept developed by this work group outlined what would become the largest, most ambitious ecosystem restoration project anywhere in a protected area.

Intensive training of hunters began in 1998 and continued into 1999. This training included the use of new weaponry and techniques, aerial and ground hunting, “judas goat” techniques (the use of radio-collared goats to help locate remnant goat populations), and GPS mapping and GIS systems. Data management became as critical for the hunters as marksmanship skills, and considerable time was required to prepare teams of specially-trained hunting dogs. Eradication techniques were designed in such a way as to ensure a quick and humane means of dispatching the goats.

These high-tech hunting methods were first put into practice on the small island of Pinta in 1999. Without field trials, the Isabela team could not feel confident that the larger-scale work on Isabela would go smoothly.

In 2000, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), a strategic partnership of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the World Bank approved a six-year, $13.3 million initiative to fund a six-part project, of which Project Isabela is the most well-known achievement. The terms of Project Isabela required an additional $2.5 million to be raised in counterpart support from private and public sources. It is this counterpart funding that Galapagos Conservancy, along with other non-government organization partners, worked to secure over the last several years.

While the most talked about and most easily visible component of the GEF Invasive Species Project was Project Isabela with the eradication of feral goats (on Isabela) and goats and pigs (on Santiago), the GEF project has six important elements:

1. Improvement of the inspection and quarantine system to prevent future species colonization.
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2. Development and implementation of cost-effective means of eradicating, controlling, and mitigating the impact of invasive species. Goat eradication represents the largest part of this thrust and is comprised of three phases: 1) preparation and training, 2) large-scale eradication, and 3) monitoring. In addition to goats, attention has been given to feral pigs, fire ants, black flies, frogs, and other introduced species.
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3. Building capacity to perform research to better understand the nature of current and future threats of invasive species, and to plan mitigation efforts. Much has been done to develop models for predicting and prioritizing potential threats and the effectiveness of different eradication and control measures.
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4. Assuring that future human activity on Isabela is consistent with the long-term management of invasive species.
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5. Establishment of funding mechanisms to ensure ongoing monitoring and management activities, as well as new eradication efforts elsewhere in Galapagos. This will involve raising an initial $10 million for an endowment, which will be matched by the GEF on a 1:2 basis.
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6. Building awareness in the archipelago and mainland regarding the challenges associated with ecological restoration efforts and the long-term management of invasive species.

The following is a brief timeline of project activities since GEF funds were approved in January of 2000:

2001: GEF funds became available late in the year and activities in each of the six project elements were initiated. Phase 1 of feral goat eradication (preparation and training) began.

2002: Project preparation and training continued. Pilot projects were conducted on Santiago to test new eradication methodologies and techniques. Government approval for the importation of rifles and ammunition took longer than anticipated, as did the training of local hunters.

2003: Phase 2 (Large-scale eradication) began. Land-based and aerial hunting was initiated on both Santiago and Isabela. Because of its size, topography, and previous eradication efforts on the island, work advanced rapidly on Santiago. “Judas goats” were released on parts of Santiago by the end of the year. The island was declared free of introduced feral pigs by the end of the year.

2004: Aerial hunting was conducted on Santiago and Isabela and proceeded much more quickly than anticipated. Judas goats were released on parts of Isabela early in the year. By August 1, 100% of Santiago reached the judas goat stage. On Isabela, about 66% of the Island had reached this stage; by the end of October, 100% of Isabela was populated only by judas goats. By the end of December 2004, project leaders completed the eradication of goats on Santiago and began Phase 3 (monitoring).

2005: Aerial hunting continued on Isabela and monitoring continued on Santiago. The project’s mandate was extended to southern Isabela.

2006: Field activities ceased, and all administrative tasks were concluded by the end of June.

A few points worthy of note:

• Project Isabela was an historic ecosystem restoration effort in terms of its sheer size. Isabela and Santiago are the largest islands from which introduced vertebrates are successfully eradicated anywhere in the world.
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• What has been achieved on Santiago and Isabela will serve to demonstrate the potential for successful restoration programs in other parts of Galapagos and other parts of the world.
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• We are already observing some very visible signs of success. Petrels are nesting in places where they have not been seen for many years. Tree ferns and other native plant species are recovering. Native invertebrates thought to be extinct have recently been identified. While a lot of work remains to be done, Santiago and Isabela are well along the road to ecological recovery.

• Galapagos Conservancy’s donors played a major role in this initiative. Project Isabela was the direct outgrowth of privately-funded conservation activities on Isabela that began almost 10 years ago. Galapagos Conservancy was a major source of discretionary funds to begin these pioneering efforts, complementing the funds that the Galapagos National Park made available for the planning and early training of personnel. Galapagos Conservancy's donors helped us to invest more than $1.3 million in the ecological restoration of these islands since 1995.
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• Over the coming years, additional private funds will be required as counterpart support for ongoing project activities and to raise an initial $10 million for an endowment to ensure ongoing monitoring and management activities take place. Again, GEF will match this $10 million on a 1:2 basis.