Tourism is imperilling a wildlife paradise
SCHOOLCHILDREN around the world know that Charles Darwin was inspired to devise his theory of evolution on a visit in 1835 to the Galapagos Islands, 1,000km (600 miles) off South America’s Pacific coast. Rather fewer may be aware that the tourists retracing his footsteps threaten to destroy the archipelago’s unique ecosystem.
Humans left their mark on the Galapagos even before Darwin turned up. Whalers slaughtered the giant tortoises, and the few settlers brought rats, cats and goats, which crowded out local flora and fauna. Yet the pace of depredation has picked up rapidly over the past three decades, as tourist visits have increased 14-fold to over 160,000 a year.
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