Updates from the Galapagos Islands! | March 2024
Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands
We safeguard Galapagos through science and conservation action. Join us!
Welcome to our March newsletter! This month kicked off with the eruption of Fernandina's La Cumbre volcano – its first since 2020 – alongside the exciting launch of our new monthly donor program, the Wild Club. Amidst updates from our field teams and cutting-edge scientific research, we're thrilled to announce that due to overwhelming support, our newsletter will now be a monthly occurrence.
We're also delighted to introduce Jim Boyle as our new Chief Development Officer, bolstering our conservation endeavors in the Galapagos and beyond.
Thank you for joining us on our journey to safeguard the Galapagos Islands
Fernandina’s volcanic eruption: Q&A with volcanologist Dennis Geist
On Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 11:50 pm, Fernandina’s Volcano ‘La Cumbre’, erupted for the first time in 4 years. This event sparked numerous questions: What's triggering it? How could it develop? How could it affect the island's unique wildlife?
Scalesia forests in Santa Cruz could disappear in 20?years
A new study by the Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos National Park Directorate highlights the threat of invasive plant species to the endemic Scalesia forest in the Galapagos Islands.
The study emphasizes the urgent need for effective management at scale to prevent the local extinction of this iconic giant daisy forest on Santa Cruz Island in the next 20 years. There is hope, but action is urgently needed. Find out more here.
Help us save Scalesia forests from extinction!
Why not show your support of our Scalesia restoration efforts by purchasing one of our limited edition Scalesia tees. Visit our online shop today!
Introducing the Wild Club!
Monthly donations enable us to continue our mission to safeguard Galapagos by bringing needed continuity for long-term impact. Join our Wild Club?today and you will enjoy numerous benefits, including bi-annual newsletters filled with insider updates, invitations to webinars, and monthly giving milestone certificates
Green hope: Floreana ecosystem restoration
Through our Galapagos Verde 2050 Program, we've achieved significant progress on Floreana Island, notably at the Granillo Negro Mine. Over the past decade, our restoration efforts have improved richness, abundance, and vegetation cover in plant communities. Check out our blog to learn more about our positive impact on ecological restoration in Floreana Island!
A photographer’s chronicles in the enchanted islands
Join our audiovisual producer, Carlos Espinosa, as he shares his experience documenting the work of our researchers on Floreana Island in his latest blog post. Packed with cameras, drones, and a sense of adventure, he takes you behind the scenes of a special scientific field trip. From monitoring Scalesia vegetation to documenting landbirds and fisheries, Carlos captures it all during this 5-day expedition!
CDF appoints new Chief development?Officer
We are hugely pleased to welcome Jim Boyle as CDF’s new Chief Development Officer. With over 30 years of experience, Jim joins us from the Organization for Tropical Studies. He will be based between Galapagos and Bellingham, WA, where he serves on the Whatcom Marine Resource Community and the Climate Impact Advisory Committee.
Uniting for a cleaner, healthier planet!
It was a pleasure to host the European Union Delegation in Ecuador for a microplastics beach cleaning activity in Tortuga Bay, raising our voices in the fight against environmental pollution. These actions amplify our message against environmental pollution and pave the way for a cleaner, greener future.
Save the Date: 8-12 April
We’ll be at the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona!
Join our marine science team at this year’s Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona, Spain, alongside key NGO partners and the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD).
Follow us on social media for live updates from the event!
领英推荐
Scientific Publications
Ernesto Bustamante Velarde, Carla Zambrano Palacios, Gabriela Rodríguez Jácome and María José Barragán-Paladines explore ‘Pescado Azul’, a women-led initiative in Galapagos promoting sustainable fisheries. Despite initial success, the project faced challenges like differing visions, inadequate planning, and underdeveloped gender strategies, leading to discontinuity. Lessons highlight the need for better planning and gender strategies in similar contexts.
Publication: Gender-focused development interventions in small-scale fisheries: lessons learnt from a past project in Isabela Galapagos in Ecuador
Journal: Maritime Studies
Date: March, 2024
Climate change threatens biodiversity, especially in Central America and southern Mexico. Rakan Zahawi and a group of researchers examine how plant species may be affected under different emission scenarios and dispersal assumptions. Results show a high proportion of species that are threatened, particularly in montane areas, highlighting the need for urgent conservation efforts in these regions.
Publication: Climate change increases threat to plant diversity in tropical forests of Central America and southern Mexico
Journal: Plos one
Date: February, 2024
Rakan Zahawi and a group of researchers compared smartphone apps to traditional methods for forest restoration monitoring. While accurate for measurements tree diameter, apps need improvement for canopy and ground cover assessments. Surprisingly, apps did not save time compared to traditional field measurement techniques, but reduced equipment needs. Further development and additional user data are needed to create cost-effective apps.
Publication: Review and assessment of smartphone apps for forest restoration monitoring
Journal: Restoration Ecology
Date: March, 2024
Invasive plant species threaten the endemic Scalesia forests in Galapagos. Heinke J?ger, Miriam San José and colleagues conducted a 10-year study in the Scalesia pedunculata forest on Santa Cruz Island and showed that blackberry and other invasive species negatively impact the endemic plant community and drastically reduce S. pedunculata cover. Without large-scale removal of invasive plants, S. pedunculata faces extinction on Santa Cruz within two decades.
Publication: Restoring the threatened Scalesia forest: insights from a decade of invasive plant management in Galapagos
Journal: Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Date: March, 2024
Scalesia cordata is a tree endemic to the southern part of Isabela Island and used to cover about 17,300 ha in highlands in the 1900s, but today only about 0.1% of the original distribution remains. Heinke J?ger, Miriam San José and colleagues published the efforts carried out since 2021 to save the endangered S. cordata from extinction. This includes searching for new trees by drones, controlling invasive plant species, monitoring permanent vegetation plots and cultivating S. cordata in greenhouses. Publication: Saving the endangered daisy tree Scalesia cordata from the brink of extinction on the Galapagos Islands Journal: Oryx Date: March 2024 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605323001916
The invasive avian vampire fly Philornis downsi threatens Galapagos bird species by feeding on nestlings. Andrea Cahuana, Paola Lahuatte, Charlotte E. Causton, along with technicians and park rangers from the Galapagos National Park and collaborating scientists, used an innovative vertical trapping method with traps placed as high as 13 m to understand its behavior. Results showed that trapping below the canopy in the Scalesia forest was more effective in catching flies, suggesting that flies stay close to the nesting areas of birds.
Publication: Using modified trapping regimes to understand the behavioral and spatial ecology of Philornis downsi (Diptera: Muscidae)
Journal: Environmental Entomology
Date: March, 2024
Images courtesy of Carlos Espinosa/CDF, Stuart Banks/CDF, Arno Cimadom, Galapagos Verde 2050