GALAPAGOS DAY 2001
The Galapagos Conservation Trust held their annual Galapagos Day event on the 17th October 2001, at the Royal Geographical Society in London.
GCT was delighted to welcome members and guests in the presence of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Charles Darwin Foundation, His Excellency the Ambassador of Ecuador Mr Sixto Duran-Ballen (former President of Ecuador) and Professor David Bellamy, the President of the Galapagos Conservation Trust.
GCT also wishes to acknowledge the generous support of Stolt-Nielsen S.A., sponsors of the evening, and Penelope Kellie of Quasar Nautica who, in conjunction with Cazanove & Loyd Expediciones, provided the star raffle prize of a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
Nigel Sitwell, chairman of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, welcomed everyone and introduced Ben Fogle, of the BBC Castaway programme, compere for the evening. The raffle draw took place under the direction of Ben Fogle and tickets were drawn by David Bellamy. GCT would like to congratulate all the winners of the raffle prizes, and in particular the winner of the holiday for two to the Galapagos Islands.
Felipe Cruz, Co-Director of Project Isabela in the Galapagos Islands, presented a lecture entitled Galapagos Invaders, about habitat protection on Isabela island. This is an innovative programme to remove feral goats from the island of Isabela, to allow regeneration of the habitat. The escalating goat population has destroyed much of the habitat required by endemic species such as the Galapagos giant tortoise. Although all proceeds of Galapagos Day will go towards Project Isabela, we still need to raise funds to help protect tortoises and other wildlife on Isabela, and our appeal is still open. For the first time in its history, Galapagos Day included a fundraising dinner following the lecture. An auction was conducted by Henry Bowring of Sotheby's, to raise funds for Project Isabela in the Galapagos Islands.
The Trustees of the Galapagos Conservation Trust would like to thank all those who attended the evening, and those who were not able to attend but supported the event through the purchase of donations and raffle tickets, for their generous support.
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