2024-05-02 09:18:41
The Biodiversity Commission began monitoring the increase in the rate of entry into the protected areas of Galapagos. For this reason, he summoned the authorities of various State portfolios and sectional governments of the province to appear, in order to determine the technical feasibility that motivated this decision.
At the beginning of the session, legislator Milton Aguas, representative of Galapagos, expressed that it is necessary to launch inspection processes when tourism, a central pillar for the way of life of the Galapagos people, is affected by the implementation of this type of measures. .
Edwin Altamirano, president of the Galapagos Government Council, reported that the entry and conservation rate has remained the same for 26 years, since 1998.
“There are studies from the Ministry of the Environment and the Galapagos National Park, carried out in 2023, that show that the average tourist, national and foreign, is willing to pay 2.5 times more to visit protected areas, $240 more to conserve the maritime environment. and 140 dollars more to conserve the terrestrial environment of the islands,” he reported.
He pointed out that the measure will come into effect from August 1, so there is enough time to socialize it with the population.
For her part, the Minister of the Environment, Sade Fritschi, stated that Galapagos does not have the necessary resources to manage the exponentially growing tourism of the islands, which during 2023 was 329 thousand tourists and 11 thousand passers-by.
In his opinion, the increase in tourism has generated irreversible effects on the environment due to the collapse of solid waste collectors and the indiscriminate introduction of species foreign to the environment, which are not adequately resolved due to lack of resources.
“It is unprecedented that a possible projected collection of USD 40.9 million until 2025 is questioned, which would benefit the National Park and the Decentralized Autonomous Governments (GAD) of the province,” he concluded.
In this regard, Niels Olsen, Minister of Tourism, mentioned that updating this rate is necessary so that Galapagos residents see a real improvement in their quality of life.
“This is the time to take advantage of the USD 40 million that Galapagos will obtain from the application of this measure, of which 50% will be for the maintenance and growth of the National Park and the other 50% for the GAD of the province to improve the quality of life of its population,” he highlighted.
While Fanny Uribe, Hugo Caiza and Víctor Morocho, mayors of Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal and Isabela, respectively, agreed that updating this rate is necessary, as long as it is implemented in a technical and legal way, which allows obtaining and investing progressively resources in the island population.
Once the appearances were concluded, the legislative board analyzed and approved, with 8 votes, the motion presented by legislator Milton Aguas, to integrate the Ministry of Finance, as part of the process of monitoring the increase in the rate of entry to the protected areas of Galapagos. .
Finally, they agreed to send the reports resulting from this inspection to the State Comptroller General’s Office, the Constitutional Court and the State Attorney General’s Office, so that they may proceed within the scope of their powers.