Invasive species and tourism threaten Galapagos Islands, UN team confirms

After a fact-finding mission to the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador, a team from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today confirmed serious threats to the World Heritage site caused by encroachment by invasive species, uncontrolled tourism and other challenges, as it also welcomed measures to deal with these threats put forward by the country’s President.

The visit, from 8 to 13 April, was led by Tumu te Heuheu, Chairman of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, Kishore Rao, Deputy Director of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, and Berndt von Droste of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The trip took place at the invitation of Ecuador’s Government.

“The mission confirmed the threat to the outstanding value and physical integrity of this iconic World Heritage site mainly from: the growing encroachment of invasive species, increasing human immigration, uncontrolled development of tourism, and the failure of various institutions and agencies to deal with these threats,” the agency said in a press release.

During the visit, the team met various officials, including the Minister of External Relations, the Minister for Environment, the Minister for Tourism, the Minister for Internal and External Security, and other senior officials including representatives of intergovernmental, non-governmental and bilateral cooperation agencies.

“The mission welcomed the decisive action taken by the President of Ecuador to address comprehensively the long-standing problems of the Galapagos Islands, with a series of new policies to be adopted in the coming two weeks,” it stated.

The full findings of the mission will now be presented to the World Heritage Committee, in charge of implementing UNESCO's World Heritage Convention, at its next meeting, which will take place in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 23 June to 2 July. The Committee will decide on actions to help ensure the long-term conservation of this site, including the possibility of inscribing it on the List of World Heritage in Danger.