PRESS RELEASE
Release Date: 25 September 2006
Charles Darwin Foundation

Giant Tortoises Still on the Menu: 4 More Slaughtered in Isabela

The slaughter of the Galapagos giant tortoises continues in the south of
Isabela Island as poaching hacks away at the already low numbers of the very
emblem and namesake of the archipelago. On September 14th, during routine
patrolling in the Roca Union area, south of the town of Puerto Villamil, park
wardens discovered the butchered remains of 2 adult females, an adult male
and bones of a young adult.

Most disappointing for the CDF is that the news of this recent find came on
the eve of an archipelago wide tour by the “Friends of the Tortoises” children’s
club from Puerto Villamil. The club is an initiative run by our Environmental
Education Center (EEC). The club members toured all the populated islands
to present their work to local media, schools and authorities to encourage
others to act and protect the tortoises.

Said EEC coordinator Marta Veliz, “The kids efforts in creating awareness
about the importance of the giant tortoise amongst their home community has
helped reduce the killing from almost 50 in 2003 to only 6 this year.”
This recent incident shows that there is still much work to be done in terms of
changing cultural habits and attitudes. There is a long history of tortoise
"harvest” for food in the islands and these animals are from populations that
suffered the impacts of large scale hunting in past centuries combined with
the pressure of introduced animals-- threats that have brought them to the
brink of extinction in barely a few hundred years. Modern day poaching of
tortoises for food is a lingering and unnecessary shadow from the past.

The CDF strategy aims at helping to forge a sustainable Galapagos society in
which the people who inhabit the islands will act as agents of conservation.
This means creating awareness of and respect for the limits involved in living
here, and promoting the active participation of the local community in the
protection of the natural resources.

A pilot project on Isabela Island which fosters out young tortoises to the care
of local farmers provides a unique protection and education program that also
provides an eco-tourism opportunity for local people. With the help of the
local farming community, the young tortoises receive vital protection and care,
thereby increasing personal interest in these creatures among the island’s
residents so that tortoises are no longer killed. The children from the “Friends
of the Tortoises” help out as guides at the farm as well as at the captive
breeding center.

“Our mission is to help our people care about the tortoises and protect them,”
said 16 year-old Nathaly Ortuno; “Our surveys show that since we started our
campaigns more people think that saving the tortoises is important and more
people want to help protect them”.

The way forward in protecting the giant tortoises of southern Isabela hinges
on interlinking conservation with the community; harmony can only be
achieved when a live tortoise is worth much more than a dead one to
everyone. One man’s meal today could change the future of an entire
community.

Contact: comments@galapagos.org