#11 Galapagos vs. Houston

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I have learned about sustainability issues in the classrooms at Rice, in talks, and reading newspapers and books. In the Galapagos I was able to experience these issues first hand. Issues such as deforestation for croplands, overfishing, and irresponsible tourism. So there is a connection between the issues in the Galapagos and my student life in the United States.

 In the Galapagos it was easier to do something about the environmental issues because the relationship between human and the environment was more evident. In Houston, there is concrete and there are skyscrapers which prevent people from seeing a natural ecosystem with plants and animals. Nevertheless Houston has a lot of sustainability issues, such as its sprawling urban configuration, but just on a different scale than Galapagos.

 Before going to the Galapagos I was already aware that there were sustainability issues in every part of the world but my fellowship helped me clarify the fact that the more long-lasting and impactful change one can make is at home. A lot of people travel thousands of miles to do work that they should be doing in their own community. It’s good to travel to see how other people face similar issues and compare different points of views but it’s also very important to do this work at home. The sustainability work in Galapagos is not going to be the same as in Houston. Even though I could volunteer to remove the invasive species in Herman Park (and I probably will), there are other also other pressing issues in Houston that can be addressed. Thinking in the large scale, these are the major sustainability issues in Houston that I would like to address if I stayed here:

 Social-Environmental: Lack of proper biking routes and sidewalks, long commutes, pollution

Social-Economic: Obesity rates, food deserts

Economic-Environmental: Dependence on fossil fuels

http://www.kauainetwork.org/programs/enhance-kauai-sustainability/

#10 Galapagos vs. Nicaragua

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I think Galapagos is light years ahead of Nicaragua in terms of environmental education, awareness and conservation tourism. The tourist guides and park rangers are knowledgeable about the biological diversity and environment of the Galapagos. From my experience I can say that they follow the laws and they do their job well.

The National Park of Galapagos has a lot of money and this is one of the things that is lacking in Nicaragua, specially in the environmental protection side. Things run more smoothly because they have their own vehicles WITH gasoline and are well-staffed. The National Park also provides jobs for the local community with their projects. Of course I’ve heard that not all of their projects are the best and that they leave things midway or don’t follow through (The same happens in the station I was working in…maybe because they follow orders from the National Park?). I’m sure they could work more efficiently for US or European standards but for Latin America I think that the environmental entities in Galapagos are doing pretty well.

It’s also advantageous that scientists from all over the world are interested in conducting their research in these islands so there is a lot of good information which allows the National Park of Ministry of Agriculture to implement better projects. The Darwin Center, in the island of Santa Cruz, has classified most plant species as either: native, endemic, introduced or invasive, and they keep conducting crucial research on other species. Nicaragua needs more scientific information. A lot of the biological reserves are not well-staffed and in need of qualified people who can conduct proper research.

Something I mentioned before is that I would change the tourism policy of the Galapagos. I would require an environmental awareness workshop or some quiz or reading for all tourists who want to come to Galapagos. If the tourist is not happy with this, then he doesn’t come. Galapagos can afford to do this since they have such a high tourism rate. Nicaragua is still trying to increase tourism and there aren’t any restrictions for them either. I think that certain laws should be more strictly enforced so tourists are not allowed to buy property (specially beach front).

Galapagos has stricter laws on fishing, building codes, and laws on population control which Nicaragua doesn’t have at all. This is understandable because Galapagos is such a unique place but I feel that the islands should be used as a model for other places. Even though Nicaragua might not have as many endemic species or have a world natural heritage site, certain laws implemented in Galapagos would allow for a more sustainable use of natural resources.

About Globalization

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Galapagos location and the wind & oceanic currents

I spoke with some of the staff about tourism in the islands. Eduardo, a three generation Galapagan(?), thinks that tourists bring more problems than solutions. Most tourists come in boat tours and don’t spend much money or time on the actual islands. He says that the owners of these cruises and big boats are foreigners or rich people from the mainland so the profits don’t stay here. He says that most of the tourists that spend more time on the island are backpackers who don’t want to spend a lot of money .

I told him that at least most of the establishments in the islands: restaurants, bars, grocery stores, hotels, are owned by local people and not foreigners (unlike Nicaragua).

Eduardo also told me that their government representatives always tell the president that everything is fine in Galapagos. That they don’t need any help but there are environmental issues.

Something that shocked me about the islands is the standard of living. There are no people panhandling, there are no drunks passed out on the side walk, there aren’t any people going through the trash or living under black tarps. Everyone has a concrete house with floors, the kids go to school, and the grownups work. There aren’t any gangs and it’s safe to walk around at night. There almost isn’t any crime either. This has a lot to do with the fact that the population is really small and all the families know each other so if something happens, you know who it is. So at plain site, it does seem like everything is fine in the Galapagos. They definitely have a better quality of life than most people on the mainland…

I also spoke with the director of my program, who was also born and raised in the island of San Cristobal, Galapagos. He says that, as in any place, there is corruption here too. The delicate environment of the islands has been compromised to satisfy the economic interests of these politicians who own certain hotels or boats. He said something else I hadn’t thought about. In the town of Puerto Barquerizo Moreno there is a beautiful boardwalk made out of wood, with solar powered lights, and benches and a rail. He says that this costs about $4 million. There used to be a beach all along the boardwalk but now it has been all blocked off and filled with concrete. The director says that they plan on continuing this blockage of the beaches and making it more difficult for locals to access their own beaches. All because someone left to Miami and saw their boardwalk and wanted something similar here.

This reminded me of the beaches in Nicaragua. Specially the beaches near San Juan del Sur where this is  already happening.

It’s very hard to say what is sustainable or not in the Galapagos. I think islands in general can’t really be sustainable. They are isolated so they need a lot of things imported, the flora and fauna are very delicate so small changes in the weather can create disasters (Like El Nino in 1983 which decimated the population of sea lions), and yeah, the human population is vulnerable to natural disasters.

Most tourists don’t stay long enough to know the impact they are having. The amount of resources it takes to accommodate them: the fuel for their boats, their waste, the energy they require, etc. I don’t think having tourism as the major profit producing industry is sustainable either. The tourism and fishing boats fight all the time in Galapagos (and in other places I’m sure too). Fishing alone is not a solution either… There is no exact solution.

A walk to the beach

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Eduardo, technician at the station, leading the way

Today we walked to the beach for the second time. It doesn’t stop to impress me. It’s only a 45 minute walk from the station but it’s muddy and rocky and there is cactus(cacti?) and cliffs at the end that you need to watch out for..

I think the sound effects are what gets me the most. The sound of the ocean waves backing up and crashing into the massive rocks and the screeching sound of the seagulls and frigate birds makes for an incredibly dramatic scene.

There are many birds near the cliffs since they like nesting here. We saw blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies (enmascarado), seagulls, tropical birds, petrels and frigate birds.

Seagull

Nazca boobie (piquero enmascarado)

Tropical bird with baby

We walked down a cliff and ran into a tropical bird with it’s baby. We stayed away so it wouldn’t attack us and make us fall down. So cute!

The first time we went on this walk, we saw a whale. It was awesome because nobody was anticipating seeing one. No one  except this German lady who kept saying that she wanted to see whales and she was the one who spotted it! The whale was pretty far away but we were able to see it’s tail and water coming out of it’s blowhole. I wasn’t fast enough to take a picture of it.

 You can’t really bathe in the water in this area since it’s really rocky and the waves are massive. Instead, we bathe in a little lagoon that forms from a river outlet. The water is freezing as usual but it feels nice after this extremely humid walk. Frigate birds also use this lagoon to rinse off their wings from the salty seawater. Apparently they can only catch their food, fish, from the surface of the ocean but they can’t dive in since they would become far too heavy to fly back up. So they hang around other hard-working birds such as the boobies and wait for the right moment to steal fish from them.

Our trusty guard dogs came with us as well. They were quite exhausted. My dog would have had a heart attack.

Negro Obama (that's his full name)

 

First Impressions

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My first point of entry into Galapagos was the town of Puerto Barquerizo Moreno, the political capital of the islands. This is a nice quiet town (compared to the more touristy Santa Cruz) of ~8,000 with nice beaches and places to eat and have fun.

Sea lions are EVERYWHERE.

Unfortunately, their poop smell is also omnipresent.

Soon after arriving I took a taxi ($20 one way) into the biological station where I would be staying and doing most of my work. In approximately 45 minutes, we transitioned from the hot and sunny coast environment into the HUMID, cloudy and cooler climate of the highlands. And I know humid. I’ve lived in Managua and HOUSTON for Christ sakes. Well, I thought I knew humid… this is a “mold your passport even if it’s inside your backpack in a plastic bag” kind of place. Nothing ever dries and the sun appears about 2 or 3 times a week for a few hours around noon.

This station is called Jatun Sacha (meaning big forest in Quechua). The same organization has 4 other similar stations around Ecuador. The station is on a 200 hectare property and can host up to 70 volunteers. Right now, there are around 35 volunteers but when I arrived last week there were only 18. It fluctuates from day to day. There are British, French, Finish, Swiss, Russian, Canadians, people from the US of course, and a LOT of Germans.

Here  is a picture of the house where I’m staying. You sleep in mosquito nets, rubber boots are essential and spiders are everywhere. You get used to it pretty quickly.

Some of the activities I have partaken on include: clearing fields of invasive species (with machete), making holes and planting endemic coffee, collecting endemic coffee seeds, making beds for the vegetable garden, and cooking. Yes, every week we need to sign up for kitchen duty. Since there is only 1 cook, Dona Yadira, for 30 or so people, she always welcomes help.