University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...

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Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature fishermen and floating hotels (most not owned by Galapagueños) are virtually non-existent, most food and other suppliers are imported (Honey, 1999). b. Legislation/Regulation Gradually steps were taken towards conservation. In 1935 the Ecuadorian government passed legislation to protect the islands wildlife. But the legislation was not enforced; it was not until 1959 that the Ecuadorian government declared 97% of the islands a national park. The remaining 3% of settlement were already established (Honey, 1999). In 1986 the Ecuadorian government declared 50.000 square kilometres of water reserved. Under a new special Galapagos law enacted in 1998, the reserved area has been enlarged to over 130.000 square kilometres in size. It is now the second largest marine reserve in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. To visit the National park you have to be accompanied by a licensed guide. Naturalist guides are licensed by the National park, after required training courses given by the park and Charles Darwin Research Station, and finally passing an examination. The park’s regulations require a maximum of 16 visitors per guide in a single group. One way to collect money for protection and conservation is through park entrance fees. In the early 1990s park entrance fees, paid at the airport, covered the entire stay at the islands. The tax were 40$ for foreigners and 0.16$ for nationals. Only 10-20% of the revenues went to support the national park (Honey, 1999). Through the 1990s the entrance fees raise from 40$ to 100$, and in 1994 the government set aside 40% for protection of the National park. In the mid-1990s tourism was the fourth largest foreign currency earner in Ecuador, after petroleum, bananas and shrimps (Honey, 1999). 48
Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature In 1998 the Ecuadorian government made some strategies both through legislation and planning for protection and conservation of Galapagos. The result was the New Special Law. 3.1.5. The effect of tourism It is difficult to distinguish between ecotourism and mass-tourism, but in general tourism have produced some related trends in Galapagos, which are threatening the island’s biodiversity and ecosystems. These trends are described below. a. Decline in quality of tourism Tourists, scientists and even boat owners have complained that the most visited places are becoming overcrowded. The government is supposed to set limits on the number of tourist and tour boats admitted each year, but these limits keep being raised (Honey, 1999). In 1992, the government announced that it was not issuing any new boat permits, but boat owners found ways to get around the restriction, by adding more berths to the boats or by buying permits from owners of smaller boats (Honey, 1999). As tourist numbers have grown and competition among the companies have increased, the companies have taken cost-saving shortcuts that negatively affect the marine reserve. For instance tour boats dumping organic and inorganic waste within the marine reserve instead of bringing for disposals and most common practices is for floating boats to discharge their sewage and organic kitchen wastes into the ocean (Honey, 1999). In 1997 another threat loomed over the marine reserve. Sports fishing and special type of spear fishing as part of the ecotourism market. With over-fishing already, sports fishing could not be policed and would only lead to further 49
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University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...

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