GALAPAGOS DAY 2007

GCT's twelfth annual Galapagos Day was held on 26 September at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and as usual was a successful and very enjoyable occasion.

This year we welcomed Tanya Streeter, the world champion free-diver, as our guest speaker. Tanya showed some striking footage from her BBC Diving in Galapagos and Shark Therapy I & II programmes and spoke with great enthusiasm of her experiences while making these films. As a patron of our shark campaign, she also focussed attention on the deplorable international practice of shark finning in a powerful manner, and we are confident that with her backing the campaign will go from strength to strength. We would like to thank her very much for her contribution to the evening.

Dr Graham Watkins, Executive Director of the Charles Darwin Foundation, discussed current events in Galapagos, the threats to its future caused by the rapid economic development (as outlined in CDF's recent "Galapagos at Risk" publication) and the exciting opportunity presented by the recent Presidential and UNESCO announcements to make a lasting difference. He stressed these issues were of critical importance for the future of the islands and called on everyone to work with GCT to seize this opportunity and ensure a sustainable future for Galapagos.

At the end of the evening GCT's President Andrew Marr helped Chief Executive Toni Darton to draw the raffle prizes. The star prize was a splendid Galapagos cruise, donated by Discovery Initiatives, whom we thank for their regular support and sponsorship of this event. A list of winners is available from GCT's office.

We would also like to express our gratitude to Stolt Nielsen for sponsoring the event this year, and to Kendermanns wines for sponsoring the wine reception and dinner.

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