THE giant tortoises of the Gal谩pagos Islands, and their minders at the Charles Darwin Research Station, were under siege this week from islanders. The protesters are angry that the Ecuadorian president has vetoed a new law that would have allowed them to exploit more of the islands鈥� resources, and cash in on tourism.
The islanders have threatened to cut the food supply for the station鈥檚 iguanas and giant tortoises, including 150-year-old Lonesome George, the last surviving member of the Pinta subspecies, and to burn parts of a national park. A proposal by the Ecuadorian President, Sixto Dur谩n Ball茅n, to set up a commission to re-examine conservation law on the islands has failed to end the protests.
The siege is the latest episode in a long-running war between local people and conservation scientists. The crisis began in February, when fishermen held national park wardens hostage and threatened to kill the tortoises after the government shut down a lucrative sea-cucumber fishery before the end of its three-month season. Fishermen had taken 7 million sea cucumbers from the Gal谩pagos Marine Reserve, which is ten times the harvest allowed.
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Following the sea-cucumber episode, the government began to draft a new conservation law for the Gal谩pagos. But last month the deputy for the islands, Eduardo Veliz, persuaded the Ecuadorian Congress to pass his own law. After lobbying by the Charles Darwin Foundation, which runs the research station, the President vetoed this on 1 September.
Each year, around 50 000 tourists come to the islands on cruise ships, and Veliz鈥檚 law would have required them all to spend at least one night ashore. This would have triggered a massive increase in hotel building. Conservationists say that Veliz鈥檚 law would also have given the green light to increased fishing and other economic development within the national park.
Julian Fitter of the Gal谩pagos Conservation Trust called on the President to 鈥渞estore the rule of law鈥�. He described the protesters as 鈥渆xtremists鈥� who threatened the future of the islands鈥� flora and fauna.
The population of the islands is currently 14 000, and is doubling every seven years as people from the mainland are attracted by the burgeoning tourist trade and rich fisheries. Last year鈥檚 massive catch of sea cucumbers was mostly sold to cruise ships from Japan and Korea, where they are a delicacy. The sea-cucumber fishing season is due to reopen next month.