Guido, thanks for the report...sounds like you had a great experience with ideal conditions...another question, did you happen to dive with the seals as well, or was there snorkeling you could do from the boat and shore with them...do they really try and take your fins off?
Here is an updated article I found today from the IGTOA
Travel Organization Urges Tough Measures On Galapagos
May 14, 2007 — By the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association
ITHACA, N.Y. — The International Galapagos Tour Operators Association (IGTOA), in its annual meeting last week in Guayaquil, Ecuador, expressed alarm over the future of the Galapagos Islands and called for strict controls on development. The meeting included representatives from the travel industry, Galapagos National Park, Charles Darwin Foundation, and other conservation organizations.
"The Galapagos Islands are at a critical turning point, and decisions taken now will determine whether its fragile terrestrial and marine ecosystems can survive human impact," stated IGTOA's Executive Director, David Blanton. He said, "The future of Galapagos rests on science, conservation, education, and proper management, but these have not kept pace with the growth of tourism and human settlement."
IGTOA agrees with UNESCO and the Charles Darwin Foundation in their recent assessment of threats to Galapagos. IGTOA warns that unregulated tourism, unchecked migration, and over-development are causing unprecedented pressure on the islands and that urgent action is needed.
Tourism demand, according to IGTOA, has greatly increased during the past several years, while administrative control has been lacking. Political interests weakened the Galapagos National Park, with a dozen Park Directors in a three year period. Much of recent tourism growth, IGTOA says, has occurred outside of a regulated system of smaller live-aboard boats. Hotels, land-based tours, and day trips, have grown without proper planning or control. A large cruise ship was permitted to enter the Marine Reserve, a new airport was constructed, illegal immigration was allowed to continue, and personnel for invasive species control declined over this period.
IGTOA applauds recent declarations of support by Ecuador's President Correa and calls for a moratorium on the construction of new hotel space, airports, and new types of recreational tourist activities until such time as the Ecuadorian government, conservation organizations, and the travel industry can create a strategy for going forward. In the meantime, IGTOA urges that large cruise ships, such as the 500-passenger Discovery currently visiting Galapagos, be prohibited from the Galapagos Marine Reserve.
IGTOA asks travelers to be selective in their choice of tour operators, to avoid large cruise ships, to look for companies practicing responsible tourism, and to be willing to contribute more toward conservation.
IGTOA (
www.igtoa.org) is a nonprofit association of travel companies, conservation organizations, and other groups that are dedicated to the complete and lasting protection of the Galapagos Islands and the surrounding Marine Reserve. It has tour company members worldwide in the US, Canada, UK, France, Australia, and Ecuador. IGTOA member companies are actively involved in conservation fundraising and the spread of responsible tourism.
The Galapagos Islands, which Charles Darwin visited on a voyage as a young man, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The Marine Reserve was added in 2001. The islands are home to plants and animals found nowhere else on earth, including giant tortoises, from which the islands get their name. They lie about 600 miles off the Ecuadorian coast in the Pacific Ocean.
Contact Info:
David Blanton
Executive Director
International Galapagos Tour Operators Association
Tel : 607-351-1120
E-mail :
exd@igtoa.org
