The Galápagos Stories

While marine protected areas are the most well-known pathway to protect marine life, experts are turning toward ‘other effective conservation measures' (OECMs) to work alongside marine protected areas as complementary pathways that protect our ocean ecosystems.

WWF and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Global Maritime Crime Program have launched a new partnership to advance innovative knowledge-sharing to protect the waters around Ecuador.

Straddling the land and the sea with a tangle of arching roots, mangrove trees guard coastlines all over the world. Learn about the wildlife that relies on these special trees for their survival.

From rugged marine iguanas sunbathing on basalt shorelines to tortoises plodding across grassy plains, the Galápagos Islands boast unparalleled biodiversity.

A new webinar series by WWF and Natural Habitat Adventures offers travel-lovers an inspiring way to explore the world —all from the comfort of home.

Mangroves are a vibrant part of coastal wetlands on five continents. Explore some of the most diverse coastal forests around the world.

The success of the park depends heavily on park rangers, but their needs are not always fully considered in protected area management plans. A public use technician in Ecuador wants to change that.

An innovative program’s ultimate goal is to help boost the “ocean economy” in the Galápagos in a sustainable way—ensuring that tourism and livelihoods can flourish while minimizing any impact on its irreplaceable ecosystem.

Waters between the Galápagos Islands and Ecuador attract migratory sea life, gather one of the world’s largest known populations of giant manta rays, and act serve as a whale shark breeding ground.

How policy, enforcement, and earning the trust of local fishers protected one of the most diverse coastlines in the world.

Tourist boats used to flock to Floreana Island for day tours without previously booking, leaving the community unprepared. With WWF's help, residents redesigned their tourism model for the long term.

Titi shrimp, or pomada, are wild shrimp, native to Ecuador, and they are harvested around the Gulf of Guayaquil by both trawlers and artisanal fishermen using a unique kind of trap that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. WWF-Ecuador has been working with both the industrial and artisanal fishermen to ensure that the fishery is sustainable.

Around the world, humans produce an estimated 1.3 billion tons of plastic waste per year, a number that is set to increase to 2.2 billion by 2025. In countries such as Ecuador that have limited garbage collection services, some of this plastic waste inevitably ends up back in the oceans or on beaches, where it has the potential to harm and human health.