The wildlife of the Galapagos islands, off the coast of Ecuador, inspired Darwin's theory of evolution. Nicola Connolly spent three weeks as a volunteer on a nature reserve that works to protect the threatened ecosystem.
My first thoughts were that I had signed up for the latest reality TV show, where nine females of various nationalities were vying for the attention of one eligible Ecuadorian farmer. For added entertainment value, the producer and his team had decided that the cold showers should be housed in bamboo cubicles 50 metres down a muddy trail from the house and that there would be no electricity.
I had arrived at the Jatun Sacha Biological Reserve after a bumpy hour-long ride clinging to the sides of an open-back, flat-bed truck. I was on San Cristobal island, the political and administrative centre of the Galapagos archipelago. This is the most easterly of the islands, located almost 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador. It was here that I had chosen to spend three weeks as a volunteer. My motivations were many: after five months of continuous travel I wanted to take the road less travelled and become well acquainted with Darwin's "Enchanted Islands" from a local perspective and not that of a tourist on a seven-day luxury cruise.
The Jatun Sacha Biological Reserve was established in April 2003 on a 200-hectare site in the highlands of San Cristobal Island to meet the growing and urgent need to protect the delicate ecosystem of the Galapagos. In recent years, the native dry tropical forests of the highlands have been greatly reduced in size due to increased agricultural activities and the introduction of invasive species such as tropical cedar and Chinchona from the mainland.
Unfortunately, with the increase in international trade and travel and with the extensive importation of products from mainland Ecuador, invasive species enter the Galapagos regularly. The unique flora and fauna are being severely threatened by these introduced plant and animal species.
ONE OF THE main goals of the reserve is the reforestation and restoration of native habitat. I spent many days taking long walks through the forest collecting native and endemic seeds which reside temporarily in the Plant Conservation Centre nursery until they are ready to be transplanted to areas that have been cleared of invasive species. The reserve is also working on creating organic agriculture alternatives. It is hoped that in the future the organic farm will serve as an example of sustainable agriculture for the local community, encouraging them to grow their own produce and reduce their dependence on imported fruit and vegetables from the mainland, thus reducing the risk of introducing pests and plagues.
In order to reach these goals, the reserve accepts individuals who volunteer for periods of up to two months to help out with various tasks. During my time at the station, up to nine volunteers were there at any one time. Days were spent sowing, maintaining and harvesting crops in the organic farm, clearing invasive species such as blackcurrant and guayaba and hand-digging a backbreaking 8-metre by 2-metre hole for a biogas digester as an alternative source of fuel production.
I soon came to realise there was another, very different side to the Galapagos than the picture-perfect image of giant tortoises, playful sea lions and tourists bathing happily in crystalline pacific waters.
The ecological and human dynamic of the islands is a delicate issue. For years the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation have been struggling to preserve this unique ecosystem and to educate tourists and inhabitants on the value of preserving this world heritage site that, unfortunately, has many problems to contend with.
A good example of the conflict between the environment and humans was played out a few days after my arrival. The fishing of sea cucumbers is big business on the islands. Sea cucumbers resemble the cucumber vegetable, measure between 20 cm and 30 cm long and fetch up to $200 per kilo on the Asian market, where they are considered a delicacy. The fishing of these molluscs has been regulated only since 1999 and due to this unregulated fishing, stocks have been depleted dramatically. In 1999, one fisherman could collect almost 57 kilos of sea cucumber in an average hour. This figure has now dropped to 26 kilos an hour.
In 1999 the Ecuadorian ministry for the environment established guidelines allowing four million sea cucumber to be fished during a 60-day period each year. This year, Fabian Valdivieso, Ecuador's minister for the environment, announced plans to prohibit the fishing of sea cucumber in 2005 and 2006 in an attempt to replenish sea cucumber stocks. The 20 per cent of Galapagueños who rely entirely on the fishing industry to earn a living reacted by blockading the airport, thus prohibiting the landing of any aircraft and seizing the islands' only petrol station, as well as barricading the only road connecting the port town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno with the rest of San Cristobal. The government countered by shipping in 70 additional policemen from Guayaquil on the mainland to patrol the island, so our weekly trip into town was fraught with tension as we clambered over tree trunks and oil cans blocking the road and made our way across the barricaded petrol station forecourt to gain access to the town centre.
Within seconds it became clear that the protest, while serious in theory, had given way to an almost fiesta-like atmosphere. Fishermen lounged around in groups listening to deafening salsa music, while jolly, large-hipped women mingled between the groups, carrying platters of food.
That night the local discoteca was busier than usual with the number of policemen in town. I had to stifle a laugh when a slick, side-parted, dark-haired policeman called Raul stood on his tiptoes and tried to look me in the eye proclaiming with utter sincerity that he would protect me from the protesting fishermen so there was no need to be afraid. Earlier that day I had seen Raul "working hard" protecting the people of San Cristobal while sunbathing on the beach. I politely excused myself.
The sea cucumber situation was finally resolved by allowing fishing of up to four million of these molluscs for 60 days from August 12th. The ban comes into effect in 2005.
MEANWHILE, LIFE CONTINUED as normal at the reserve. It took less than an hour for the initial thrill of being handed a machete with the obligatory Ecuadorian health and safety briefing of "don't hurt yourself" to wear off as the blisters on my hand started to weep when I was sent into the forest to cut prickly blackcurrant bushes.
Evenings at the reserve were more relaxing and were spent lounging in hammocks reading by candlelight or lying by a blazing campfire while gazing at the clearest night skies on the Equator. I quickly mastered essential skills such as milking a cow, manufacturing potent sugar cane alcohol, how to have a shower in an open-air bamboo cubicle without being eaten to death by "carmelitos" (these small black mosquitoes were introduced to the island 10 or 12 years ago by a local woman called Carmela who brought a bunch of infected bananas from the mainland), and how to stash a much-prized store of chocolate so the mice in the kitchen didn't eat it before I did!
While at the reserve it was easy to forget I was in Darwin's "living laboratory of evolution" or at least what I had always assumed it to be, as the majority of the better known Galapagos inhabitants are to be found in coastal areas. Sightings of sea lions, frigate birds and blue-footed boobies were limited to weekend trips to the beach.
In 1845, Charles Darwin said of the Galapagos that "the natural history of these islands is eminently curious and well deserves attention". My time as a volunteer at Jatun Sacha taught me that in 2004, the Galapagos Islands deserve attention more than ever, but not merely as a tourist destination. The conflict between conservation and development needs to be resolved in order for the incredible diversity of flora and fauna and the fragile ecosystem of these islands to be preserved for future generations.