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Basic Project INFO

  • FOCAL AREA:
    Biodiversity
  • PROJECT TITLE:
    Ecuador - Control of Invasive Species in the Galapagos Archipelago
  • PROJECT NUMBER:
      ECU/00/G41
  • COUNTRY:
      Yemen
  • PROJECT STATUS:
    (2001-2007 six years)

      GEF Grant:
      US$ 24.832m

      Co-finance:
      US$ 18.300

      Project Cost:
      US$ 43.132m

  • PROJECT DOWNLOAD (WORD)

Ecuador - Control of Invasive Species in the Galapagos Archipelago

Overview

Since Darwin’s time, the islands of the Galapagos Archipelago have been recognised as a storehouse of unique biological diversity and for their historic role in stimulating Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection. The global significance of the islands - one of the most ecologically intact large, complex, and diverse oceanic archipelagos remaining today - is unquestionable.

The archipelago was formed some four million years ago, 1,000 km from any other landmass. Similar archipelagos exist but were colonized several hundreds, even thousands of years ago by humans who, intentionally and unintentionally, introduced new species to these isolated environments which led to high extinction rates (up to 50 percent) among the original species endowment.

The Galapagos Islands are an exception. Over 95 percent of its original species composition remains extant. This is attributed both to the late arrival of humans to the area and to the archipelago’s inhospitable conditions, which discouraged rapid population expansion. The Galapagos Islands is one of the few places in the world without an indigenous population and many of the 16 main islands, six smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets that make up the Archipelago are still uninhabited. Today the Galapagos has 16,109 residents, but they are restricted to just 3 percent of the archipelago’s total landmass as the government of Ecuador has demonstrated a strong commitment to their conservation, having ‘set aside’ 97 percent of the land area as a National Park, as well as creating a large Marine Reserve.

Although the islands are therefore shielded from the most severe anthropogenic pressures threats remain, primarily from the past and potential future invasion of alien species, which are already responsible for habitat degradation, and compete with native wildlife.

Invasive species include feral goats, pigs, dogs, rats, cats, mice, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows, poultry, ants, cockroaches, and some parasites cats, and cattle, many harmful plants (there are over 700 introduced plant species compared to only 500 native and endemic species). All these threaten the islands’ biodiversity. Dogs and cats attack birds or small tortoises and iguanas and the destroy nests of birds, tortoises, and marine turtles. Pigs are even more harmful, covering larger areas and destroying the nests of tortoises, turtles and iguanas as well as eating the animals' native food. Pigs also knock down vegetation in their search for roots and insects. Black rats attack small Galápagos tortoises and displace endemic rats. Cows and donkeys eat all available vegetation and compete with native species for the scarce water. A fast growing poultry industry on the inhabited islands also worries local conservationists, who fear that domestic birds could introduce disease into the wild bird population.

The potential of invasive species is illustrated by the fact that in1959, fishermen introduced one male and two female goats to one of the islands; by 1973 the goat population was over 30,000.

Project description

The project has been designed to protect the archipelago’s exceptional biodiversity from the introduction of alien species. This involves improving quarantine systems, researching new methods of controlling and eradication, organizing species (animal and plant) eradication pilot programmes, establishing a US$15 million trust fund ($5 m in GEF financing), and building awareness among the islands’ population.

The project is working to build capacity among Ecuadorian institutions concerned with conserving the Islands and support a ‘total control’ framework for invasive species in accordance with National Conservation Strategies. Project activities include building technical skills and establishing the relative cost-efficiency of various conservation management models.

Interventions will seek to: improve quarantine systems; demonstrate cost-effective control, eradication and mitigation pilot projects; build capacity for targeted research and planned mitigation strategies; mainstream invasive species management into sectoral development; establish a financial mechanism to meet control measures recurrent costs; build management agency capacities to replicate eradication efforts; and build awareness, both in local communities and on the mainland, of the archipelago’s problems and significance.

SELECTED PROJECT RESULTS

  • GEF funding and co-finance has allowed the eradication of several animal and plant species from the Galapagos islands. The list includes : goats from N. Isabela, Santiago, Rábida, Española, Pinzón, Baltra, Pinta, Santa Fe and Marchena; cats from Baltra,donkeys from Isabela and Santiago,feral pigs from Santiago; feral dogs from Isabela, Floreana and Santa Cruz, black rats from Bainbridge and Marielas, ants from Fernandina, Rock Pigeons from Galapagos; Fire ants from Marchena and Santa Fe; a species of Blackberry from S. Isabela and Floreana and other from Santa Cruz. Tulipan has been eradicated from Santa Cruz, and jaboncillo, lemons and avocado from Santiago. By the end of 2007, 15 species had been declared eradicated with seven more programmes in progress.
  • The successful eradication programme for feral goats on the island of North Isabela, which has sets new standards and best practices, was the world’s largest programme of its type. Eradication of pigs, donkeys and goats has also been successful on Santiago Island and of donkeys from N Isabela. The same methods are nbeing used to eradicate goats on Floreana and Cristobal islands.
  • 81 percent of the population of dogs and cats on Santa Cruz and San Cristobal have been sterilized.
  • Other species of animals and plants identified as priority for eradications include: Fire ants on N. Isabela, Fernandida, Santiago, Baltra and N. Seymour; pomarrosa on Isabela; cabuya on Isabela and Floreana.
  • Inspection and quarantine systems have been improved, strengthened and made more effective with full participation and commitment of local and national institutions and the community. According to SESA ( the Ecuadorian Service for Agriculture and Livestock Sanitation) the quarantine system (known as SICGA) is 95 percent effective for air transport and 60 percent for marine. Around 80 percent of inspectors have been trained and 80 percent of the system is judged to be operating according to international standards.
  • An endowment fund – the Fund for the Control of Invasive Species in the Galapagos Archipelago – has been established to ensure the project’s continuity after GEF funding ends. The fund will include contributions from a payment for ecosystem services programme. So far US 1 million has been pledged by the Ecuadorian government, US$ 2 million from UNESCO and US$ 1 million from UN Foundation and Conservation International (UNF and CI?).
  • At least one monitor is assigned to each of the three uninhabited Galapagos islands where 60 percent of the monitoring systems is judged to be operating according to international standards.
  • INGALA – the National Institute for the Galapagos – is instituting new environmental policies for invasive species control into sectoral planning for agriculture and livestock, tourism and migration control.
  • A Total Control Plan (TCP) has been drafted, restructured and was presented to the the INGALA Council in August 2007. However many of the original findings from the first TCP draft have already been implemented during project development.
  • CIMEI (“Comité interinstitucional por el Manejo de Especies Introducidas” or Inter-institutional Committees for the Control and Management of Introduced Species) have been established on Santa Criz and San Cristobal islands
  • Three pilot community monitoring groups have been established. One for rats on Santa Cruz, another for frogs on Isabela and a third for mosquitos on Santa Cruz. A group on San Cristobal is also monitoring four plants species – blackberry, zaragoza, sauco macho and taxo.
  • The risk analysis system for introduced plants and invertebrates has been applied to 160 plant species. An database on the distribution and management of introduced 12 plant species that have been selected for eradication has been updated and includes control costs. Adatabase on invasive insects and phytopathogens is ready for use.
  • Consultancies have been undertaken in: agriculture and livestock strategies, Inter Institutional coordination, environmental planning, province planning, and tourism strategies. A report has been produced on: the risk of introducing species in airplanes and a manual to identify and control weeds in the islands has been produced.
  • Manuals on the site prioritizing model are being prepared in Spanish and English versions.

Public awareness

  • Invasive species control is now discussed at local, provincial and national decision-making levels. Awareness of the invasive species problem has been raised with 60 percent of the community on Santa Cruz , 91.4 percent on San Cristóbal and 82.5 percent on Isabela, concerned about their impact.
  • Two schools in the islands have started a programme to raise awareness and understand the problems on invasive species.

Training

  • National capacity has been raised so that the Galapagos National Park service is able to implement the eradication methods developed by the project without assistance.
  • 74 park rangers have been trained in: using rifles with telescopic sights, radio telemetry for work, radio communication, first aid, hunters’ ethics; use of GPS, magnetic compass and maps, wild life management and computer systems. Four rangers have been trained in GIS and another five in the management and training of hunting dogs.
  • Local communities have been trained in invasive species control. A total of 2,230 people have been trained including: 1,400 students, 60 teachers and 500 members of the community trained on dengue fever eradication and other invasive species campaigns; 28 farmers trained on rat, plant, slug and ant controls; 30 people trained in invasive species monitoring; 104 people trained on frog control on Isabela Island and 36 people trained on plant control on Cristobal Island.

Legal

  • Since 2004 there has been a legal requirement for all cargo (organic material), passengers and luggage to be inspected on arrival. A list of products whose introduction to Galapagos is allowed, restricted, or forbidden, has been approved and manuals of 28 inspection procedures to be used at all inspection points have been produced for SESA-SICGAL. Regulations for the disinfection of arriving commercial airplanes and some ships have been approved, and trained inspectors will enforce compliance.
  • An external evaluation of the inspection and quarantine system and a legal evaluation of the SICGAL system have been carried out. The sanitation committee have adopted the inspection and quarantine report and its recommendations.
  • All the legal instruments to operate the endowment fund – the Fund for the Control of Invasive Species in the Galapagos Archipelago – are ready and the design and structure of the fund has had a success external evaluation.

Partners etc

The project is being implemented by UNDP and executed by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment. It also works closely with: Instituto Nacional Galápagos (INGALA);Servicio Ecuatoriano de Sanidad Agropecuaria (SESA); Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF); Fundación Galápagos Patrimonio de la Humanidad (FUNGAPH); Concepto Azul and Helipark Ltd.

Newsletter: No

Website: http://www.ingala.gov.ec/galapagos/index.php (Spanish)
See also: http://www.darwinfoundation.org/

March 5, 2008

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