New and ambitious challenges for Jocotoco in the Galápagos Islands

Since September 2021, Fundación Jocotoco is leading the project to restore Floreana Island in partnership with the Galápagos National Park and Island Conservation. Floreana Island is home to 54 globally threatened species, some of which have been extirpated by introduced species, such as rats. This ambitious project will free the islands from invasive predators to preserve the unique ecosystem and its species.

Jointly with the Galápagos National Park Directorate and other organizations, we also work on expanding the Galápagos marine reserve. This expansion is crucial to protect sharks, fish, marine birds, and mammals from overfishing, as large fishing fleets operate just outside and sometimes inside the national park.

Furthermore, Jocotoco will continue strengthening its Galápagos reserve at San Cristóbal Island, preserving one of the five breeding areas of the Galapagos Petrel within the archipelago, a critically endangered species. In addition, we are committed more than ever to working closely with local communities to preserve the fragile Galápagos ecosystem by lessening the environmental impact of land use forms.

To carry out the various programs, Eliécer Cruz, Patricia Leon, and Victor Carrion, and others joined Jocotoco. Eliecer, a renowned biologist and Galápagos conservation expert, will lead our Galápagos Conservation Program. The team's ample knowledge and experience in conservation also broaden Jocotoco's toolkit and conservation approaches.

Our new program on the Galápagos puts our restoration efforts on a new level. It thus builds on and expands more than two decades of effective conservation across 16 reserves protecting highly threatened ecosystems of vital importance for biodiversity protection worldwide.