GCT's Achievements in 2010
2010 was another busy year for GCT, with a wide range of activities to help raise both funds and awareness here in the UK. Our 15th Anniversary Appeal towards our 15 Steps has so far helped us to fund many important projects including:
Learning about water shortage © CDF
- Project Floreana, a groundbreaking restoration project that combines science with community involvement. GCT is funding everything from development of a native garden nursery to rat eradication and redeveloping the school as the heart of the community to restoration of the critically endangered Floreana Mockingbird.
- We have continued to fund research into the parasitic fly Philornis Downsi, which is threatening to wipe out the entire population of Darwins' finches.
- Marine Monitoring is still a priority and monitoring and tagging programmes we have supported have now expanded to white fish species, which currently lack fishing management plans.
- Knowledge Management, which aims to collate current and historic data and research information and making this available online for those responsible for conserving the Islands and the rest of the world to use.
- GCT also formed a partnership with the Princes Foundation with the Built Environment to help build a sustainable Galapagos and minimize the impact of a new development of 1,200 much needed homes.
- Responding to members' feedback, we launched our improved membership scheme and Direct Debits as a payment option. Over 20 members have already upgraded to the new life membership category of Galapagos Guardian.
- We held our first Blue-footed Booby Day to help raise funds and awareness - with supporters across the country wearing blue feet including our President Andrew Marr.
- Two auctions took place for the Appeal - the original painting of our Lonesome's Christmas card and a signed Galapagos chart - which together raised £4,400.
- We organised a number of events and receptions including our annual Galapagos Day.
- In 2010 GCT received news of two generous legacies worth £150,000 in total, which have proved to be significant in projects that we have been able to fund and our own development.
Thank you to each and every one of you for your support last year - it is so much appreciated and helped us to achieve so much. Please consider supporting Galapagos Conservation Trust in 2011 making a gift towards our 15th Anniversary Appeal, so that we can continue supporting conservation projects in Galapagos.