Sprol

photo: eugene
When most of us think of the Galapagos Islands, we think of Mother Nature, herself. It is here, 600 miles from mainland Ecuador, where Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution. And today, the Galapagos Archipelago continues to support 5,000 different species of plants and animals.
The Archipelago is 430 kilometers long and comprises a total land mass of 7882 square kilometers and a sea area of 45,000 square kilometers. It is, arguably, the world’s largest “living laboratory” for natural scientists; comprised of 13 large islands, 8 smaller ones and 40 islets. Yet even as we now treasure its bounty of natural resources, such was not always the case. Here’s a brief history of the inhabitants of the Galapagos Islands, as far we know.


photo: Mark T
The first settlers on the Galapagos were an offshoot of the Peruvian Incas, arriving on the islands in the late 15th century. Some fifty years later, the Bishop of Panama attempted to sail to Peru and ended up “discovering” the islands. As one might expect, it was downhill from there. Its first commercial use was as a way station for pirates. In addition to a hide-away that provided respite and clean water, visiting pirates soon developed an appetite for the meat of the giant tortoise.

A hundred years or so after the pirates arrived on the islands, we saw the emergence of the industrial revolution. With that, man’s insatiable greed for just about everything else followed.

Oil (from whale blubber) was a highly prized commodity at that time, and the Galapagos Islands was a good place to find it. In fact, it was good place to find fur seals too, and what was left of the giant tortoises. For the next 100 years, from the late 18th century into the late 19th century, the extent of the ravaging that occurred brought all three near extinction.

Toward the latter part of that cycle, Charles Darwin arrived on the islands. He wrote his book The Origin of the Species by Natural Selection twenty years later. Thirty-three years after that, the islands were given their current, official, name: Archipélago de Colón, in honor of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America, 400 years earlier.

In fact, not only is the archipelago named after Columbus, individual islands also bear names that pay tribute to Columbus, his ships, his financiers, etc.: San Cristóbal, Isabella, Fernandina, and the like. (With the exception of Darwin and Wolf, all have Spanish names.)

A century after Darwin wrote his seminal work, the Galapagos Islands were designated as a National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation was established to protect the extraordinary ecosystem that has provided the backdrop for so much scientific research and so much enjoyment for so many.

But the people living in the Galapagos Islands today have needs Mother Nature cannot fill: foremost among them, the need for energy. There are now about 6,000 people living on San Cristóbal, the largest of the inhabitable islands in the archipelago. Like the rest of the modern world, residents of the island have growing needs for energy, but are concerned about the environmental impact of their energy consumption.

photo: jasonpearce
Positioned too far from Ecuador to tap into its electrical grid, the islanders have had to rely on oil shipments to provide the fuel needed to run their diesel generators. That has, historically, meant frequent trips using small boats, due to the limited capacity of the island’s generators to store the fuel necessary to keep them burning. And with each trip the oil tankers make, there is an increased chance of accidents. What’s more, every trip taken uses up additional fuel just to power the tankers.

photo: jasonpearce
So, the Galapagos Islands are turning–literally turning, green–with wind power. The project, slated to be completed sometime this year, will install three wind-powered turbines that are expected to reduce the number of oil shipments by half. They should also reduce the carbon dioxide being generated by about 2,800 tons per year.

But some residents of San Cristóbal are not altogether pleased. With wind turbines towering at 170 feet, blades that measure 193 feet in diameter and power lines that stretch for 7.5 miles, they are concerned that the visual impact of the turbines will hurt the tourist trade.

After all, people come to the Galapagos for its natural beauty: diving, bird watching, snorkeling, sea kayaking, wind surfing, surfing and fishing are all on the activity list for the tourists who flock there yearly.

photo: jasonpearce
Jim Tolan, Project Director for the wind farm project, is not concerned. He believes that the residents and the tourists who frequent the islands are committed to renewable energy and will welcome the opportunity to turn the island of San Cristóbal into a “showcase for their concerns about the environment” He’s probably right. After all, the residents of these islands surely have better things to do with their time than fight windmills, wouldn’t you think?

photo: jasonpearce