The Galapagos islands has two distinct climate seasons:

1. Warm & Wet, and
2. Cool & Dry.

The executive decree considered the high ecological value of this archipelago, so it declared 97% of the earth’s surface a National Park, also becoming the first protected area in the country. This regulation declared «the lands that form the islands of the archipelago of Colón or Galapagos to be reserved for the preservation of flora and fauna, with the exception of these reserve areas the lands possessed to date by the settlers of the archipelago and those that have already been legally owned by the State».

To learn more about the history of this protected area, check out the following document: History of the Galapagos National Park Directorate.

The Galapagos National Park covers approximately 7,970 square kilometers, which corresponds only to its terrestrial part.

The natural beauty of the islands, the diversity and uniqueness of species they host, their volcanic origin, their geological dynamics with permanent changes and variety of formations; Being considered a living laboratory of evolutionary processes still underway, added to the fact that it accommodated the development of a large number of both animal and plant species that do not exist anywhere else in the world, make Galapagos a very unique site of global importance for the common heritage of humanity.

In Galapagos, only 5 islands have some type of human settlement, which are generally the largest in the archipelago and have natural resources that sustain life and the development of the communities it hosts.

Santa Cruz is the most central island of the archipelago; This proximity to the other populated islands is what has possibly favored its productive development, trade and transport. San Cristóbal is the capital of the island province and concentrates most of the government dependencies. Isabela is the largest island in the archipelago and one of the most diverse. Its population is relatively small, but in recent years it has largely developed ecotourism with local participation. Floreana, despite being the first inhabited island in the Galapagos, has a small population of no more than 120 inhabitants. And Baltra, an arid island that was given a U.S. air base during World War II. Currently, this island belongs to the National System of Protected Areas, except for a small part that is destined for the operation of the Galapagos air base and the harbor master’s office.

To improve the management of protected areas, the Galapagos National Park Directorate implemented zoning for land use planning. This dynamic and adaptive process is an effective planning and management tool, dividing the national park according to its conservation and its ability to sustain certain human activities.

In this way, the 330 islands, islets and rocks have been divided into:

Absolute Protection Zone, which refers to pristine or near-pristine areas, free of known man-made impacts;

Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration Zone are areas that manifest a certain degree of alteration with or without the presence of introduced organisms or human impacts.

Impact Reduction Zones, these are the peripheral areas of the national park with a significant degree of alteration, located in the areas adjacent to urban or agricultural areas.

The endemic and native flora and fauna, unique in the world, make the Galapagos Islands an exceptional place. More than 45 species of endemic birds, 42 reptiles, 15 mammals and 79 fish live in Galapagos and coexist harmoniously with humans. The Galapagos Islands also have a rich variety of endemic flora, reaching 500 species including vascular plants, bryophytes and algae.

The most representative species of the Galapagos National Park are the giant tortoises, which give the archipelago its name. Initially there were 14 species of turtles, but the human predation of which they were victims in the eighteenth century by pirates and whalers, caused the extinction of 3 species, and the constant eruptions of the volcano La Cumbre, in Fernandina, also wiped out the species of this island, naturally.

The most recent extinction that caused global consternation was that of the emblematic Lonesome George, the only specimen of the species Chelonoidis abingdonii, from Pinta Island, who died of natural causes inside his pen, at the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island, after 40 years

Lonesome George represents the world’s will to conserve the different threatened species. Since its discovery, in total solitude on Pinta Island in 1971, the Ecuadorian State, through the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park, focused its efforts on achieving its reproduction to safeguard its species, efforts that are maintained even after its death.

The Galapagos National Park faces some problems that threaten its protection and care, among them the voluntary and involuntary introduction of exogenous species to the fragile ecosystems, however, the systematic and planned work that the Ecuadorian State has executed through the Galapagos National Park Directorate, has allowed that today 95% of its originally recorded flora and fauna are kept in good condition.

Please visit their web site:

https://galapagos.gob.ec/parque-nacional-galapagos/