News

Hold the Press! 'Extinct' Galapagos Giant Tortoise Found on Isabela

This week, researchers led by a team from Yale University have reported that there is a strong possibility that the Floreana tortoise (Chelonoidis elephantopus) may well still be surviving - on Wolf Volcano in the northern part of Isabela.

The Floreana tortoise was thought to have become extinct 150 years ago, soon after Darwin's famous Beagle voyage. In the 18th - 19th centuries, island visitors including pirates and whalers had a heavy impact on tortoise numbers but also moved tortoises between the Islands, most likely as a portable food source. This has now resulted in a mix of different populations in areas like Wolf Volcano that were a popular stop off point with sailors.

After a small number of hybrid tortoises were discovered on Wolf Volcano, a study was launched in 2008 to collect blood samples from the tortoise population in order to analyse the DNA and establish the various origins of the tortoises. After some dedicated fieldwork, 1,669 individuals were sampled.

It has been reported this week that 84 of these tortoises were found to be hybrids with an extremely high possibility that one parent was a pure bred Floreana tortoise. 30 of these individuals were under 15 years old suggesting that it is highly likely that there is at least one pure bred Floreana tortoise still wandering around on Wolf Volcano!

The Galapagos National Park is now set to embark on a rescue mission for the Floreana tortoise - a task that could never have been predicted at the beginning of Project Floreana (a key project funded by GCT). Stay tuned for updates on this exciting news!

The Minister of the Environment and the Mayor of San Cristobal have inaugurated a new sewage and water treatment plant which will benefit the whole community. Waste disposal is a key issue in sustainable development especially for a growing population and this improved system is a positive step for a more sustainable future.

Until now 70% of the population of San Cristobal depended on a sewage system which discharged directly into the sea, creating both a potential health hazard and an ecological danger. The new plant uses the latest technology combining a physico-chemical treatment of water with an aerobic sludge activator, a high-volume and pressure blower, filters and silencers, a disinfectant raft connected to the plant  and a pumping system.

A proportion of the water will be re-used for municipal ecological gardens. The rest of the water will be discharged into the sea in accordance with the latest health standards for marine ecosystems.

- Galapagos National Park 

Chairman of the Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT), Edmund Truell, founder and Director of Pension Corporation, has decided to move on to establish a wider international network through which to deploy innovative fundraising methods to support the Galapagos Islands. The Trust is delighted to announce that current GCT Trustee Dr Mark Collins, will take up the role with immediate effect.

During Mr Truell's Chairmanship, the Trust has achieved record fundraising as well as the successful initiation of a series of groundbreaking local projects in the Galapagos Islands.  He will continue to pursue his passion for sustainable development there.

Dr Collins, a trustee of the Galapagos Conservation Trust since 2006, brings with him the experience of a  career in international environmental organisations, including UNEP and IUCN. A biologist with a PhD in tropical ecology, Mark is an established spokesman and writer on the environment, and was awarded the Royal Geographical Society Busk Medal in 2000 for his contributions to conservation.

On behalf of the Trust, Dr Collins commented, "We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Edmund, both as a trustee and, more recently, as Chairman, and we are very grateful for his dedication and the considerable resource that he has provided on a personal level and through the Truell Charitable Foundation. In building on Edmund's achievements, we will continue to work closely with him and those many partners who, like us, are dedicated to preserve and enhance these enchanted islands. The legacy of Galapagos in terms of our understanding of our own human origins, is a treasure to us all."

Here at GCT we would like to extend our thanks to all who came to our Galapagos Day lecture with the BBC's David Shukman. We have a little something for those who couldn't make it this time round - watch the videos below of David talking about the problem of plastic pollution in our oceans, with some great footage of albatrosses on Midway Atoll and, of course, one about Galapagos and the problems with invasive species. We are grateful to have had such a fantastic speaker with some great conversation messages - we hope you enjoy watching him too.

This BBC report is well worth a watch! Contains some great footage and highlights the issues associated with tourism. Keep an eye out for an update on GCT's report from our recent tourism workshop coming soon!