The fragile Galapagos struggles with a wave of tourism
ESPANOLA ISLAND, Ecuador -- Minutes after clambering onto the blindingly white beach that lines Española's Gardner Bay in the Galápagos Islands, Suzanne Newman settles into a transfixed crouch.
The object of her fascination: a month-old sea lion, mugging for the Winnipeg tourist and a clutch of fellow paparazzi with the poise of a Hollywood A-lister.
"I feel like a schoolgirl meeting a movie star," Newman says as the pup wriggles up to plant a bewhiskered kiss on her foot.
Then, a tap on Newman's shoulder breaks the spell. Marine biologist José Luis Benavides, the Galápagos National Park guide shepherding her ship-based tour group, repeats the park's often-violated "7-foot rule": Visitors who get any closer to the prolific and famously nonchalant wildlife that provided fodder for English scientist Charles Darwin's theory of evolution risk upsetting one of the most unusual, delicate ecosystems on Earth.
This year marks two centuries since Darwin's birth, 150 years since publication of his pivotal On the Origin of Species, 50 years since the creation of Galápagos National Park and Charles Darwin Foundation, and three decades since UNESCO named the archipelago its first World Heritage Site. But the landmark anniversaries are being greeted with a mixture of pride and dread in the 19 volcanic islands that straddle the equator about 600 miles off the Ecuadorian coast.
Though the global economic collapse has dampened foreign bookings and spurred more last-minute discounts in what has always been a pricey destination, tourism still rules the roost in "Darwin's lab." The number of annual visitors reached a record 173,000 last year, a fourfold increase over the past 20 years. Mainland Ecuadorians have arrived, too, boosting the resident population to nearly 30,000 from half that a decade ago.
And though 97% of the New England-sized island group remains under national park protection with small, guided tours limited to 60 designated sites, the Galápagos' growing popularity has been accompanied by escalating worries about its future. UNESCO placed the islands on its "in danger" list in 2007, the same year Ecuador's president signed a decree making their protection a national priority.
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