Galápagos Marine Reserve
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The Galápagos Islands and the surrounding waters represent one of the world’s most unusual ecosystems and are rich areas of biodiversity. Recently granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR) is the largest marine reserve in a developing country and the second largest marine reserve in the world. This reserve, which lies a thousand kilometers from the Ecuadorian mainland, covers an area of around 133,000 sq. km.
In certain areas in the Galápagos Marine Reserve, you can dive or snorkel and come into contact with marvellous aquatic species which live underwater: Whales, whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, rays, manta rays, sword fish and turtles, etc. Other habitats are the rocky seabed, vertical rock faces, sandy beaches, mangrove swamps and, to a lesser extent, coral reefs.
Coastal lakes, moist soil and areas where freshwater and seawater mix contain unique species still to be studied. Cold, hot and warm marine currents come together here, generating a wide diversity of animal life: from small coloured fish to large mammals.
The Galápagos Marine Reserve faces a number of environmental threats. The most pressing threats to the GMR come from overfishing and illegal fishing. The legal local sea cucumber and lobster fisheries are heavily depleted and may be close to collapse. This poses dire consequences for the oversubscribed fishing sector in Galápagos, likely causing local fishermen to turn increasingly to illegal practices, such as shark finning, overfishing of tuna, and illegal export of sea cucumbers.
Pollution and development pose an additional threat to both terrestrial and marine wildlife. The concurrent growth of the tourism industry and local populations means this problem will certainly increase. The population of Galápagos is growing at a rate of approximately 6% per year, more than double population growth of mainland Ecuador. The grounding of the tanker Jessica, delivering bunker fuel and diesel for tourist boats and the Ecuadorian Navy, brought world attention to the marine threats from increased human activities on the Islands.
Many international conservation and science organizations are working to protect the Galápagos Marine Reserve. Among them are the Charles Darwin Foundation and WildAid, which is working to improve the capacity of the Parque Nacional de Galápagos staff to protect the reserve from overfishing and other threats
