March 2009 Archives

A hammerhead shark tagged in a shark monitoring project in Galapagos has been tracked to the Cocos Islands in Costa Rica and Malpelo in Colombia.

Scientists from the Galapagos National Park, the Charles Darwin Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund and International Conservation, who have been conducting the study, say that this important result indicates a biological corridor route between the points of a golden triangle.

The study, which has involved the ultrasound and satellite tagging of 100 hammerhead and Galapagos sharks, confirms that the sharks prefer certain sites or hot spots where researchers found the highest concentration of the species.

'We are delighted that the money Galapagos Conservation Trust has raised through our Shark Campaign for this vital monitoring work has had such a resounding result,' says GCT Chief Executive Toni Darton.

'The sharks are the Galapagos Marine Reserve's top predator and top of the food chain, so the health of the whole archipelago hinges on our understanding their wellbeing and survival. This study is providing crucially important information for their management and conservation. If sharks are moving in and out of the Marine Reserve it also reinforces the need to ban illegal shark finning more widely' she said.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

A Cambridge University fund-raising dinner on the 12th February 2009, organised by the Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) and Charles Darwin's alma mater, Christ's College, Cambridge, has raised £250,000 towards the creation of the new Charles Darwin and Galapagos Islands Fund.

The new fund, which aims to raise £1.5m, will enable an academic exchange programme, the first of its type, to start between researchers in the Galapagos and those in Christ's College and the University of Cambridge more broadly. Research areas to be supported will include climate change, socio-economic investigations, species biology, taxonomy and systematics, ecology and conservation, and geology.

Hosted by Frank Kelly, Master of Christ's College Cambridge, the dinner was held in the college's Great Hall on the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth. Guests included the Duke of Edinburgh (Chancellor of the University and Patron of the Charles Darwin Foundation), broadcaster Andrew Marr (President of the Galapagos Conservation Trust), Gabriel Lopez (Director of Galapagos-based Charles Darwin Foundation), and Sir David Attenborough.

Toni Darton (GCT's chief executive) reported that: "The guests at the dinner can feel justifiably proud of donating such a generous amount, which will contribute to the creation of a lasting academic link between Cambridge and the Galapagos Islands."

Frank Kelly (Christ's College's Master) said: "I am very proud that Cambridge, as one of the world's leading scientific institutions, is the first university to develop a permanent and supportive research link with the Galapagos Islands generally, and the Charles Darwin Research Station specifically."

Prince Charles at CDF seminar

During his recent visit to Galapagos, HRH the Prince of Wales took part in a symposium on 16 March in Puerto Ayora organised by the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and pledged his aid, and that of his Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, to work with CDF in forging new sustainable development agreements between many parties in Galapagos.

After listening to the comments of several members of CDF on the need to plan for the new reality of the Islands, the Prince expressed enthusiasm for participating in the process. His foundation has been working in the area of sustainable development for the last 20 years. "Planning is key to correctly redirect the development of a society, and this can only achieved with the necessary agreements between all the involved parties," commented the Prince at the seminar, which addressed the different challenges (ecological, economic, and social) that confront Galapagos.

Gabriel Lopez, Executive Director of CDF, thanked the Prince for his commitment to the Foundation's efforts to integrate the socio-economic sciences into the scope of its research. "I congratulate His Royal Highness on the leadership he has assumed in this task of highlighting the most fundamental problems of the planet.

CDF Executive Council member Rodolfo Rendón, ex-Minister of the Environment of Ecuador, said: "Galapagos is the optimal place to test the implementation of a truly sustainable model for the world. If we achieve can it here, we can do so in any other part of the planet. The Charles Darwin Foundation would very much like to count on your support in this mission that we have undertaken.