How tourism supports conservation in Ecuador’s Galapágos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are one of the world’s great natural wonders. Read on to find out how tourism plays a vital role in their protection…

When it comes to snorkeling and scuba diving, there’s nowhere quite like the Galapágos Islands. While the archipelago boasts an abundance of colorful reef fish, the Galapágos’ real drawcard is the opportunity to get up close and personal with an array of otherworldly sharks and marine mammals.

From playful sea lions and sleek penguins to algae-eating marine iguanas and majestic whale sharks, snorkeling in the Galapágos is like entering a reverse aquarium. As David Attenborough puts it, “In the vastness of the Pacific, there’s a place unlike any other. Enchanted volcanic islands that are home to a remarkable collection of animals and plants. Here, evolution is proceeding with spectacular speed. Black lizards that swim in the ocean and spit salt from their noses. Penguins thousands of miles from Antarctica.”

“Nature’s greatest experiment”

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“In a lifetime spent making natural history films,” Attenborough continues, “I’ve been to many wonderful places, but none more extraordinary than the Galápagos. These have been called nature’s greatest experiment, for here life has evolved in isolation…”

The archipelago, located 600 miles off the coast of mainland Ecuador, owes its incredible biodiversity to an upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich waters in an otherwise warm section of the Pacific Ocean. Charles Darwin, who visited in 1835, was “astounded” by the creatures he found there, drawing on his time in the Galápagos to formulate his theory of evolution by natural selection.

Charles Darwin

Today, almost two centuries later, the island chain remains arguably the most important natural laboratory in the world. Thanks in large part to the revenue and attention provided by sustainable tourism since the establishment of the Galápagos National Park in 1959. “The Galápagos Islands are one of the best-kept national parks in the world,” Roque Sevilla, chairman of one of our main Galápagos cruise partners, told National Geographic. “Just think of an African national park with a dozen vehicles surrounding a lion. Here, only one boat at a time can enter a landing point on an island, and groups are limited to 16 per guide.”

Most agree that tourism, which provides 80% of the islands’ revenue, has been a force for good in the Galápagos. Taking a trip to the Galápagos doesn’t just fund conservation, it also provides much-needed jobs for local Galapagueños. And the tight controls placed on tourist numbers help to keep the islands pristine. As Sevilla explained: “There’s a de facto limit to the number of visitors who can sail here, with a fixed 1,690 berths on all ships per day, and this quota hasn’t changed since 1998.”

In 2024, the Ecuadorian government voted to double the national park entrance fee from $100 to $200 (for foreigners 12 years and older). This had been a long time coming – the fee had remained unchanged since the late 1980s, and inflation had dulled its impact.

Where does the money go?

One hundred percent of the money generated by park entrance fees is plowed back into the Galápagos Islands, in the following ratios:

• 40% – Galápagos National Park

• 25% – Galápagos municipalities

• 10% – INGALA (Galápagos Immigration)

• 10% – Provincial Council of the Galápagos

• 5% – Ecuadorian Navy

• 5% – Galápagos Marine Reserve

• 5% – Inspection and Quarantine Services

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Meet Diego: a Hood Island Giant Tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Station in Santa Cruz (2019)

Exactly half of the fee goes toward conservation, with the Galápagos National Park, Galápagos Marine Reserve, and Inspection and Quarantine Services all doing important work to preserve the islands’ natural state. Equally important is the work done by several non-governmental organizations. The Charles Darwin Foundation – established alongside the National Park in 1959 – remains the primary scientific and coordinating body on the islands. But other organizations like the Galápagos Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and The Galápagos Conservation Trust also do important work. The Galápagos has one of the highest concentrations of scientific researchers in the world, and there are several dozen projects underway at any point. A few highlights include:

Barcode Galapagos, an initiative of the Galápagos Conservation Trust, is “an ambitious citizen science project that aims to document the genetics of all biological life in Galápagos, from microbes to mammals.”

The Charles Darwin Foundation is restoring endemic on the islands of Floreana, Santa Cruz, Isabela, San Cristóbal, and Santiago (among many other projects).

The Galápagos Conservancy is working to save species, including pink iguanas, Galápagos penguins, and scalloped hammerhead sharks.

While much of the funding for these projects does not come directly from tourism, the Galápagos is able to maintain such a high conservation profile because of tourism. Wealthy people who visit the islands give millions of dollars to Galápagos conservation, both in their private capacities and through the corporations they lead.

Threats remain

As a proud B Corp we are fully cognizant of the fact that tourism can also be problematic. In the case of the Galápagos, one of the biggest dangers is the introduction of alien species that upset the ecological balance in the islands. Since the islands’ “discovery” in the 1500s, an estimated 1,600 species have been introduced to the Galápagos. In the early days, many of these species were introduced on purpose (goats and chickens for food, cats and dogs for companionship, pretty plants for gardens).

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These days, things are much more tightly controlled, but every year some species slip through the net – some with devastating consequences. The avian vampire fly (a tiny insect that’s native to Brazil and Trinidad) is wreaking havoc on the islands’ endemic bird species, while the more-innocent-sounding hill raspberry is strangling native forests.

Avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi) (Photo: J. O'Connor, Philornis downsi adult, CC BY 3.0)

Ninety-eight percent of these alien species have been introduced by humans. It goes without saying that an increase in tourist numbers increases the likelihood of more species being introduced. While the number of berths on cruise ships has remained pretty much unchanged for decades (around 70,000 visitors per year), the same cannot be said for land-based tourism, a relatively recent phenomenon. Twenty-five years ago, almost everyone who visited the Galápagos did so on a cruise. Even if they’d wanted to stay on land they couldn’t have – there weren’t any hotels. Nowadays, there are hundreds of options to suit every budget. In 2023, the Galápagos welcomed 260,000 “land-based” visitors, many of them budget-conscious travelers. While there is something to be said for the democratization of tourism, the rise in land-based tourism will have to be closely watched. The increase in the National Park fee is a good first step, but more action may be required in the future.

Teach a man to stop fishing

While tourist numbers must be closely monitored, by far the biggest scourge facing the Galápagos Islands is the increase in commercial fishing in the waters surrounding the archipelago. The same nutrient upwelling that produces such incredible biodiversity also makes for extremely productive fishing grounds, a fact which has not escaped the attention of China’s enormous commercial fishing fleet.

As the New York Times reported in a major exposé titled How China Targets the Global Fish Supply:

As it happened, the Ecuadorean government didn’t just defend the borders of the marine reserve, it expanded them. What’s more, it made history by agreeing to the largest-ever “debt-for-nature swap,” in history. As World Crunch reports, “a debt of $1,628 billion was renegotiated to $656 million, with the [Ecuadorean] government allocating in return the sum of $450 million over 18 years to safeguard [the Galápagos] ecosystem… Under the swap, Ecuador pledged to combat overfishing and enforce no-go zones over the coming decades, by establishing a marine police force, hiring scientists, and setting up a species protection corridor between Costa Rica’s Cocos Island and the Galápagos Marine Reserve.”

Tourism may seem like no match for the size and sophistication of China’s fishing fleet. But the Ecuadorean government has understood the essence of sustainable tourism – that species, landscapes and cultures are more valuable alive than dead, and they are making all the right moves. We are proud to play a part, however small, in preserving the wonders of the Galápagos for generations to come.

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