Subject: [Fwd: Galapagos Conservation Trust e-News]

From: "R.Stephens" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 21:27:00 +0000

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Galapagos Conservation Trust e-News
Date: 	Wed, 24 May 2006 14:34:26 +1200
From: 	Galapagos Conservation Trust <[email-masked]>
Reply-To: 	[email-masked]
To: 	[email-masked]

Galapagos hawk
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Galapagos Conservation Trust logo 	  Welcome to the Galapagos 
Conservation Trust's e-newsletter...
24 May, 2006

Dear Mr Stephens,

In this edition:

    * Is mass tourism coming to Galapagos? <#tourism>
    * Sponsor a Booby for Father's Day <#fathersday>
    * Schools Books for Galapagos School <#school>
    * New Chairman for the Galapagos Conservation Trust <#chairman>
    * Charter in September <#charter>
    * Last Chance to buy Tickets! <#tickets>
    * Charity management seminar <#seminar>

  Is mass tourism coming to Galapagos?

My annual visit to our projects in Galapagos coincided with the 
controversial arrival of the /MV Discovery/ to Galapagos. This 698 berth 
ship offers a Galapagos and the Americas trip and has been given 
permission to dock in San Cristobal for several days. On board were 392 
passengers and a further 159 passengers arrived by plane the first 
Sunday of my trip.

I was in meetings in Santa Cruz and was unable to go to San Cristobal 
that day but an eye witness told me that it took an hour and a half to 
disembark the /Discovery/ passengers into smaller boats and this added 
to the delay in getting other passengers onto their own travel boats. In 
her view, Galapagos was not prepared for this type of tourism and her 
comment was "I am not being elitist. It is just a question of 
appropriateness. It is like having a small B & B in the Cotswolds that 
sleeps 10 and trying to cram in 100".

The Galapagos Conservation Trust believes that well managed tourism, 
where the local population of Galapagos benefits, is an important source 
of income for Ecuador. In addition, by visiting the Galapagos on small 
boats (up to 100 passenger capacity) visitors can experience the 
wilderness values of Galapagos with a minimal environmental impact.

We do not believe that the trip on the /MV Discovery/ is an appropriate 
way to visit the Galapagos. The biggest single threat to the native 
fauna and flora is posed by the introduction of non-native species. 
Despite inspection and quarantine procedures, a ship this size can only 
add to the problem. There is no way that the inspectors can check the 
whole ship plus all of its passengers and crew, and prevent the 
inadvertent introduction of, for example, plant seeds or insects. As 
members of the GCT will know, the introduction of non-native species is 
the biggest threat to the land flora and fauna of Galapagos.

I was told that all the Park staff had to be pulled away from their day 
to day work of protecting the Galapagos National Park and Marine 
Reserve, just to deal with the arrival of the ship.

We would question how much the local community will benefit from the 
visit of the /MV Discovery/. Cruise ships of this size carry all their 
own food and drink, and do not normally purchase supplies locally. 
Furthermore, the passengers are unlikely to have the time or inclination 
to patronise local restaurants, especially if the price of the cruise 
includes all meals. The only members of the local community likely to 
benefit are the naturalist guides and a few small boat owners based in 
San Cristobal.

The Galapagos Conservation Trust also believes that the passengers' 
experience of Galapagos will be poor. Few of the day trips available 
will be able to reach the most interesting visitor sites, or those with 
a rich diversity of wildlife.

We believe that sustainable tourism in Galapagos should be based on the 
use of small boats - a high value, low volume model that minimises 
ecological impacts and maximises the involvement of and the benefit to 
the local community.

For this reason the Galapagos Conservation Trust cannot support visits 
by /MV Discovery/. The Galapagos Conservation Trust will be working with 
our local partners to contribute to the promotion of appropriate and 
sustainable tourism. If you would like to help us in this work by giving 
a donation, please contact the GCT office on [email-masked] 
<mailto:[email-masked]> or phone 0207 629 5049.

With best wishes,
Mrs Leonor Stjepic
Executive Director

..Top <#top>

  Sponsor a Booby for Father's Day

Red footed booby tie

Why not, this Father's Day (Sunday 18 June 2006), give your father a 
special gift that will last for decades? For a minimum donation of £30 
we will send your father a special silk tie with either a Red Footed 
Boobies on a blue background or Blue Footed Boobies on a red background 
as well as a specially personalised letter confirming that a donation 
has been made on his behalf to help some of the unique birdlife of 
Galapagos.

Your funds will be used to protect species such as the Nazca Booby, 
Flightless Cormorant and Galapagos Penguin. These birds are found 
nowhere else on earth and if they die out, they will be lost forever. 
Currently they face threats from invasive species e.g. black and brown 
rats that eat their eggs and the young. Invasive species are the biggest 
threat to land animals in Galapagos today and we want to fund work to 
protect the endemic bird species of Galapagos from this threat. If you 
are interested in this special gift please call Catherine in the 
Galapagos Conservation Trust office on 0207 629 5049 or email 
[email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>.

(The more funds we raise, the more birds we can protect - please help us 
by passing this onto as many of your friends as you can. /Thank you/).

..Top <#top>

  Schools Books for Galapagos School

Children at Tomas de Berlanga School

During my trip to Galapagos, I was able to spend some time visiting the 
Tomas de Berlanga School. This is a school in Santa Cruz that was 
created and built by parents who were unhappy with the educational 
system in the islands. It is set up in the highlands, amongst native 
plants, and has about 100 children from the age of 5 to the age of 16. 
The classrooms are basic white washed brick with corrugated iron or are 
held in the open air and many of the teachers are volunteers. Although 
the majority of the children pay modest fees, the governers want to 
encourage children from all economic backgrounds to attend and about one 
third are scholarship students.

The parents believe it is important that the children are taught in both 
English and Spanish so learning English is a vital first step. I was 
delighted to be present when the generous donation of language books, 
made by Macmillans, arrived. The books were for the youngest group of 
children to help them learn English.

I was happy to represent Macmillans at a lovely ceremony organised by 
the children during which they sang two songs and one of the girls gave 
a speech written by the children. Afterwards a book was distributed to 
each child and for the rest of the time I was there, the presence of the 
adults was ignored as the children chatted exiciteldy about their new 
books and kept pointing out new words and pictures. It was fantastic to 
see and a big thank you to Macmillans for so generously donating all the 
books.

By the way, Macmillans has just published a new book on the history of 
Lonesome George by Henry Nicholls and I can thoroughly recommend it as a 
good read. If you would like to read the book, it is available at the 
special discounted price of £12.99 plus postage and packing to 
supporters of the Galapagos Conservation Trust. To receive the discount, 
you can order:

   1. Online - Enter the reference code *WLONE05a* into the promo box on
      the checkout page when ordering on www.palgrave.com
      <http://www.palgrave.com>
   2. By Email - Quote the reference code *WLONE05a* when you order this
      title by email from [email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>
   3. By phone - Quote the reference code *WLONE05a* when you call to
      order, Palgrave Macmillan Orders (+44) (0) 1256 302866.

..Top <#top>

  New Chairman for the Galapagos Conservation Trust

At its AGM on 25 April 2006, the Galapagos Conservation Trust elected a 
new Chairman - Richard Robinson. Mr Robinson has been a Trustee of the 
Galapagos Conservation Trust for the last 10 years. He is a lawyer who 
has been involved in numerous conservation organisations, in particular 
with the Wildlife Trusts. Richard was one of the founders of the London 
Wildlife Trust, and is interested in the development of eco-tourism in 
other parts of the world, learning from the experience of Galapagos.

Our outgoing Chairman, Nigel Sitwell, has served as the Galapagos 
Conservation Trust's Chairman for most of its existence. As well as 
being one of the founders of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, Nigel has 
being active in conservation for several decades. He was editor and 
publisher of the magazine Wildlife for 17 years and worked for WWF-UK as 
Director of Information. Nigel has also served on the Council of the 
Zoological Society of London and was a long-time Trustee of Survival 
International. He was awarded the Order of the Golden Ark for services 
to nature conservation. He has written or edited numerous books and 
continues to work as a writer and editor on natural history and 
conservation. He is the publisher of the Ocean Explorer series of maps.

The Trustees and staff of the Galapagos Conservation Trust would like to 
pass on their thanks to Nigel Sitwell for all his help and support 
during his time as Chairman. We are pleased to say that Nigel has 
offered to continue his involvement with the Galapagos Conservation 
Trust for the next 3 years as one of our Vice Presidents.

..Top <#top>

  Charter in September

Join Discover the World and a guest lecturer from the Galapagos 
Conservation Trust for an exclusive sailing adventure around the unique 
Galapagos archipelago and experience one of the most intriguing and 
inspiring natural habitats on earth.

If you are interested in joining the Galapagos Conservation Trust and 
Discover the World, and would like further details, please contact 
*Discover the World* at 29 Nork Way, Banstead, SM7 1PB, United Kingdom. 
Tel: +44(0) 1737 218802 ; Fax: +44(0) 1737 362341 ; Email: 
[email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>.

..Top <#top>

  Last Chance to buy Tickets!

*3rd & 4th June: Trip to Scottish Seabird Centre, Edinburgh & North Berwick*

This is the last chance to purchase tickets for this exciting two night 
trip to Edinburgh and the Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick. This 
really is a rare opportunity for anyone who has a passion for flora or 
fauna, or both!

For further details visit www.gct.org/events2.html 
<http://www.gct.org/events2.html#scotland> or contact Abigail on 
[email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]> or 0207 629 5049.

..Top <#top>

  Charity management seminar

On the 5th July, GCT's very own Leonor Stjepic, Executive Director, and 
Professor Paul Palmer, Professor of Voluntary Sector Management at Cass 
Business School, are holding a seminar entitled "Not for Profit? The Art 
of Managing in changing and challenging environments".

This event will certainly appeal to those working for the not for profit 
sector and to anyone who wants to learn more about this satisfying and 
increasingly well-paid industry. Join us for this thought-provoking view 
of charity management and, with summer in mind, learn more about how the 
unique natural resource that is the Galapagos is being protected for 
future generations.

For further information visit www.gct.org/events2.html 
<http://www.gct.org/events2.html#nfp> or contact Abigail on 
[email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]> or 0207 629 5049.

..Top <#top>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Galapagos Conservation Trust GOLD CLUB*
Bales Worldwide | Bernard Chandran | Celebrities Worldwide | Discovery 
Initiatives | Durley House | Eric Way | Flemings | Laurent Perrier | 
Nicholas Moll Design | Quasar Nautica | Rhubarb | Select Latin America | 
The Ultimate Travel Company

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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