Crafting nature: the Galapagos and the making and unmaking of a "natural laboratory"

Diego Quiroga

doi:10.2458/v16i1.21695

Abstract

Since Charles Darwin's famous visit to the Galapagos the reputation of the archipelago has been growing in the Western imagination as a place where one can study and understand evolutionary processes. Scientists who were concerned with collecting and classifying animals and plants from the Galapagos, with the support of UNESCO and other international organizations and universities, created the Charles Darwin Foundation in 1959. That same year, the Ecuadorian Government founded the Galapagos National Park, in charge of protecting 97% of the Archipelago's terrestrial area. Since its beginning the GNP sought to restore degraded ecosystems and thus craft a "natural laboratory". Part of the plan to protect the flora and fauna of the Islands included the creation of a large tourism industry based on cruises that go from island to island. Conservationists' efforts in the 1980s and 1990s focused on protecting the oceans around the Galapagos and controlling and managing fishing for sea cucumbers, lobsters and sharks. Local people, and in particular the fishermen, resisted the efforts made by the government, conservationists, and the booming and powerful tourism industry, to impose a globalized conservation strategy and discourse and to control and limit local residents' activities. They developed new forms of resistance, appropriation and negotiation to deal with the government and the different conservation organizations. As extractive activities became illegal and criminalized and as fishing became less important from an economic point of view, local people, including the fishermen, began to view tourism as an important alternative economic pursuit. During the late 1990s new decision making bodies emphasized consensus and instituted a participatory management system in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. These organisms were not entirely successful, however, and conflicts and tensions reemerged after their creation. Despite their participation in these organisms, many local people felt ignored and marginalized while many managers and conservationists felt that locals, and especially the fishermen, had been abusing the system and the management process. The "Galapagos Paradox" results from a process by which the very same conditions that cause the Galapagos to attract the attention of scientists, conservationists and of tourists, are being put at risk by the success of its reputation and the increasing number of residents and visitors. These visitors and residents threaten the isolation of the archipelago, which has been critical in maintaining the uniqueness of the islands.Key words: Galapagos, national park, conservation, resistance, fishing.

Highlights

Understanding of nature is shaped by a series of schemes, perceptions and emotions constructed and produced in regions where the accumulation of academic, economic and political capacity allows these definitions to emerge and be exported to the rest of the world
The construct of the Galapagos as a "natural laboratory" is the product of a series of interconnected narratives composed over several centuries by pirates, whalers, explorers, scientists and conservationists
Management actions and conservation plans were implemented that sought to landscape the islands, restoring, preserving and recreating its wilderness to assure its viability as a "natural laboratory" and as a tourist destination

Summary

Introduction

Understanding of nature is shaped by a series of schemes, perceptions and emotions constructed and produced in regions where the accumulation of academic, economic and political capacity allows these definitions to emerge and be exported to the rest of the world. Efforts to contain the flow of insects, animals and plants and to restore the ecosystems to protect the "natural laboratory" have focused primarily on the archipelago's emblematic animals such as tortoises, marine birds and terrestrial iguanas These efforts have created an increase in conservation funds flowing from the GNP and various NGOs. Government spending has been increasing; it is currently the second largest source of income in the Islands after tourism (Watkins and Cruz 2007). Tourism started with the arrival of private sail boats to the Islands during the early part of the twentieth century It was only in the 1960s that the local population first became involved in tourism as fishermen began taking tourists and visitors to different sites to view tortoises, iguanas, sea lions, birds and, more recently, sharks and marine turtles. Many fishermen are disappointed with the process, claiming that it was merely a show to appease their sector

The local tourism sector

Findings

Conclusions