Carolina’s Galapagos Science Center (GSC) recently started accepting limited researchers and students back to its state-of-the-art research facility on San Cristobal, Galapagos. First in line was Greg Lewbart, an adjunct professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s environmental sciences and engineering department, and a professor of aquatic animal medicine at North Carolina State University.
What percentage of land cover is dominated by invasive plants in the highlands of the four inhabited Galapagos Islands? It´s 28.5% according to new maps generated by an international research team based between the UNC at Chapel Hill, USFQ in Quito and GSC.
The first Galapagos Research Retreat was held at the Carolina Inn during fall 2018. Carlos Mena, Co-Director of the Galapagos Science Center, accompanied the UNC Galapagos Leadership Team to further engage and recruit UNC scientists to the Galapagos Initiative.
Daniela Alarcón-Ruales, Jaime A. Chaves and Juan Pablo Muñoz-Pérez, researchers of the Galapagos Science Center and Cristina Miranda, Alumni from Universidad San Francisco de Quito are co-authors of the new paper “Rookery contributions, movements and conservation needs of hawksbill turtles at foraging grounds in the eastern Pacific Ocean” published by the Marine Ecology Progress Series. The article is a new contribution to knowledge for the conservation of the critically endangered populations of this species in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
In 2022, the Galapagos Science Center (GSC) and the broader UNC & USFQ Galapagos Initiative will celebrate its 10th Anniversary. We are proud to announce the World Summit on Island Sustainability scheduled to be held on June 26–30, 2022 at the Galapagos Science Center and the Community Convention Center on San Cristobal Island.
The content of the World Summit will be distributed globally through social media and results documented through papers published in a book written as part of the Galapagos Book Series by Springer Nature and edited by Steve Walsh (UNC) & Carlos Mena (USFQ) as well as Jill Stewart (UNC) and Juan Pablo Muñoz (GSC/USC). The book will be inclusive and accessible by the broader island community including scientists, managers, residents, tourists, and government and non-government organizations.
While the most obvious goal of organizing the World Summit on Island Sustainability is to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the GSC and the UNC-USFQ Galapagos Initiative, other goals will be addressed through special opportunities created as part of our operational planning of the World Summit.
For instance, we seek to elevate and highlight the Galapagos in the island conservation discourse, seeking to interact with other island networks in more obvious and conspicuous ways to benefit the Galapagos Islands, the UNC-USFQ Galapagos Initiative, and the world. We will seize the opportunity to further develop the I2N2 – International Islands Network-of-Networks. Further, we wish to highlight and emphasize multiple visions of a sustainable future for the Galapagos Islands and we cannot do this alone. Therefore, engaging the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Tourism, the Government Council of Galapagos, the Galapagos National Park, and local Galapagos authorities, including government and non-government organizations and local citizen groups, is imperative.
Borrowing from Hawaii’s and Guam’s Green Growth Program and the Global Island Partnership, we wish to examine existing global programs that emphasize island sustainability and their incorporation into life, policies, and circumstances in the Galapagos Islands. We will also seek to enhance our connections with the institutional members of our International Galapagos Science Consortium and expand the Consortium through the recruitment of other member institutions. We will also work to benefit islands and their local communities by working with citizen groups as well as important NGOs who seek to improve the natural conditions in the Galapagos and diminish the impact of the human dimension on the future of Galapagos’ ecosystems.
Lastly, we will use the World Summit to benefit UNC & USFQ and our constituencies through a strong and vibrant communication plan about the World Summit, creating corporate relationships as sponsors, identifying funding goals through donors, and benefiting our study abroad program for student engagement in the Galapagos Islands. We plan to develop and issue a Galapagos Sustainability Communique after the World Summit that includes the vision and insights of all its participants for a sustainable Galapagos with applicability to global island settings.
We are eager to hear your perspective and have you join us at the World Summit on Island Sustainability!