Galapagos Islands added to Danger List

Galapagos Islands added to the World Heritage Danger List

World Conservation Union warns the Galapagos Islands are under threat from the huge increase in tourists visiting the archipelago

Gland, Switzerland, 28 June 2007 (IUCN)– The Galapagos Islands have been added to the list of World Heritage sites in danger following the recommendation of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

The World Heritage Committee, currently meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, made the decision after considering the results of a joint monitoring mission by IUCN and UNESCO to the islands in April 2007.

The mission found that annual visitor numbers have increased from 40,000 in 1996 to 120,000 today, bringing with them invasive species by plane and boat. Introduced plant species now outnumber native ones, and 180 of the 500 native plant species on the islands are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The mission also found that immigration, which increases the local population by 4% every year, is driving development and destroying the integrity of the islands.

David Sheppard, Head of the IUCN delegation in Christchurch, said:“The main problems associated with the Galapagos Islands relate to the impact of tourism growth,which is drivingimmigrationand overfishing. Adding the islands to the danger list is a positive way of raising the profile of these threats and highlighting the need for international action.”

The World Heritage Committee also added Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal to the list of World Heritage sites in danger. The joint IUCN and UNESCO monitoring mission to the 913,000 hectare park in January 2007 revealed high levels of poaching. Populations of hartebeest, buffalo and waterbuck declined by 90% between 1990 and 2006, and only 10 elephants currently remain in the site. The population of the endangered giant eland, particularly valued by poachers, is down to a single herd of 67 animals.

Sites removed from the danger list

On a more positive note, the World Heritage Committee removed Río Plátano in Honduras and the Everglades in America from the danger list. The joint IUCN and UNESCO monitoring mission to Río Plátano in December 2006 found that threats to the property are now largely limited to the buffer zone. IUCN does, however, continue to have some concerns about illegal timber harvest and agricultural activities which are moving towards the border of the World Heritage site.

Negative impact of tourism stopped

Two joint IUCN and UNESCO missions have helped stop unsustainable and damaging tourism development in Africa. The Zambian government halted a plan for a riverside hotel and country club on the banks of the Zambezi river near Victoria Falls, after IUCN highlighted the potential negative impacts this would have on the site. The Tanzanian government also halted plans for a fifth hotel to be built on the rim of the crater in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area after a similar mission.

ENDS

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