World Wildlife Fund

Sea lion mother with young. Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
© WWF-Canon /R.Isotti-A.Cambone

Working with our partners and generous donor support, we are intensely committed to ensuring that our vision for the Galápagos becomes a reality. Our goal is to maintain a marine environment that supports its diverse and abundant native species, along with the people who depend upon it for their livelihoods. On land, we will work to prevent extinctions while maintaining the uninhabited islands in near pristine condition.

To achieve our goal, we have focused on the four areas that offer the greatest opportunity to solve the challenges facing these islands: sustainable tourism, innovative fisheries management, improved waste management, and support for the Galápagos National Park Service that builds their management and enforcement capacity in the marine reserve.

Sustainable tourism and regulating migration
The Challenge : More and more people are migrating to the islands, with a 6.2 percent annual rate of growth the population is now over 28,000. The islands are also a popular tourism destination with more than 100,000 visitors every year. This influx of people has put an enormous strain on delicate ecosystems. 

The Solution: WWF is collaborating with tour operators, conservation groups, scientists, and business people to develop creative sustainable tourism that promotes social equity and maintains ecological integrity. To regulate migration it is essential to build the capacity of the National Institute of the Galápagos. We are continuing to partner with local institutions and provide necessary training, equipment, and technology to enforce migration policies. 

Over the next decade WWF will work toward sustainable tourism practices and building the capacity to regulate migration by: providing the National Institute for Galápagos and the police with training, equipment, and technology needed to manage migration obtaining approval from the president of Ecuador to issue a decree to fully implement the Galápagos Special Law which will support sustainable migration to the islands encouraging tour operators to follow current regulations motivating tour operators to adopt employment and labor standards for contracting local residents and pay for periodic audits and certification of these practices establishing a tourism monitoring system for the Galápagos National Park Service

Innovative Fisheries Management

Visitor entry fees support the Galápagos National Park.
© WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEY

The challenge: Overfishing and illegal industrial fishing are serious threats to the islands’ delicate marine ecosystem, depleting commercial fish, destroying marine environments, and crippling local communities whose livelihoods and health depend on fish.

The solution: WWF is addressing root causes by applying our learning from other threatened ecosystems. We will work with the local fishing communities to restructure the fishing sector in the marine reserve and promote an artisanal fishing culture that embraces sustainable fishing practices and fosters strong cooperatives.

Over the next decade, WWF will work toward establishing sustainable fisheries by: building a new framework for sustainable fisheries management engaging local fishing cooperatives in decision making, monitoring, and management of key fisheries, while increasing their capacity and ensuring their adherence to appropriate regulations supporting local fishing cooperatives in identifying and selling to new markets promoting alternative fishing practices which maximize catch while minimizing environmental impact conducting a study to understand distribution and populations of shark species, a key species in the ecosystem that is sought-after for its fin.

Governance and enforcement of the marine reserve
The Challenge : The enormous size of the marine reserve makes enforcement of established laws quite difficult. 

The Solution: WWF continues to work with the Galápagos National Park Service to improve the governance structure for the management of the marine reserve so it is participatory, transparent, and financially sustainable. This includes developing the technical capacity and infrastructure in the GNPS to conduct adequate enforcement. 

Over the next decade, WWF will work toward improved governance and enforcement in the marine reserve by: developing a stronger, more sustainable structure for making and implementing decisions, management and monitoring increasing the capacity of local and collaborating institutions to enforce regulations installing a vessel monitoring system in all tourism and fishing boats developing a comprehensive financial plan for the Galápagos National Park and the Galápagos Marine Reserve

Improving waste management

Magnificent frigatebird in flight, Seymour Island, Galápagos, Ecuador.
© WWF-Canon / R.Isotti-A.Cambone

The Challenge : The growing local population, tourism, and outdated energy practices create a serious and growing threat of pollution. Pollution can quickly expand and lead to groundwater contamination which can affect people and wildlife on the islands. 

The Solution: WWF provides financial resources, training, and technical support to local communities in developing a comprehensive and effective management system for disposal of waste, including toxic waste. 

Over the next decade WWF will work toward improved waste management by: designing and implementing an integrated waste management system on the islands establishing and enforcing regulations for an integrated waste management system that includes toxic waste providing the administrative, technical, and logistical capacity to execute and manage the system designing and implementing an oil recycling program on San Cristóbal Island requiring tourist boats to pay for the real costs of managing and treating the waste they generate.

• Galapagos Energy Blueprint:The Blueprint describes a 10-year pathway towards a sustainable energy future in the Galapagos. It includes a set of unified actions to be taken across each sector of energy use – transportation, tourism, electricity generation, and fishing.