Tourism and the Galapagos

Of all the places in Ecuador, and even the world, the Galapagos is one of the most well-known, and one that many people dream of visiting. It is a place you hear about from early on in biology classes and in textbooks, so it was remarkable to have the chance to go there. The Galapagos Islands were a bit of a mystery to me, and when I arrived, it was certainly not what I expected. It is very interesting to go to a location in Ecuador, 600 miles off the coast, and find mostly North American and European tourists. It was also a surprise to see how many people lived on the islands, and the way they were controlled.  Only a limited amount of Ecuadoreans were permitted to live in the Galapagos, their residency was contingent on their employment, if they were to lose their job, they would face deportation to the mainland. Ecuador finds itself in an interesting dilemma, with one of the premier biological locations in the world being a rather large source of income and tourism for the country. The question is where to draw the line? Despite the remoteness of the Islands and the many barriers to entry, such as cost, location, and accommodations, there were certainly no shortage of tourists in the Galapagos. Considering the amount of income the Galapagos brings in, it is unlikely that the country will decrease admittance to the islands. However, it is important that the government properly allocates the money that it earns to conservation measures and habitat protection. It is interesting to talk with the host families and realize how hard it is to go somewhere like the Galapagos for Ecuadoreans due to the artificial inflation of prices and services due to the tourist market. Going to a cheap restaurant in Cuenca for lunch would likely cost no more than three dollars, a similar meal in the Galapagos would be around fifteen dollars. I was also surprised to see almost no park rangers like what we would see in the United States. Instead, there were guides trained by the National Park that had to accompany you everywhere, and despite being licensed through the National Park, they were guides who either worked for, or owned their own company. The volume of tourism necessitates a very large quantity of supplies, food, and other necessities to be shipped in to the Islands, further increasing the traffic and pollution, and is potentially hurting the environment people are coming to see for its remoteness and lack of human influence. I think that the cost is a fortunate barrier to entry that more or less ensures that the visitors who come are those who really appreciate the nature and will not be destructive. Although people working in the Galapagos are able to do very well for themselves, and it is an amazing site to see, it remains to be seen whether the use of the Galapagos as a tourist attraction will hurt the Galapagos in the long run.