Projects Funded by IGTOA

Over the years, IGTOA has given tens of thousands of dollars to projects and organizations such as those listed below.

• Bay cleanup
  We supported a group of local fishermen in the cleanup of Academy Bay, netting more than eight thousand pounds of waste.

• Best Practices Program for the Travel Industry We provided funds to Conservation International and Rainforest Alliance for their program to institute standards of operation for tour companies.

• Charles Darwin Station staffing
  We have funded several positions at Van Staelen Hall, the visitor interpretation center.

• Emergency land purchase
  At the request of the Charles Darwin Foundation, we provided funds to purchase private land that would be turned into a protected area.

• ISM boat certification program
  We gave money to CAPTURGAL to help with international safety certification for locally-owned boats operating in the Galapagos.

• Library for Galapagos guides
  We provided funds for the purchasing of hundreds of books for a library in Puerto Ayora, to be used by guides in their studies.

• Mooring anchor for patrol boats
  We provided anchorage off Wolf Island to support patrols for illegal fishing and shark finning in this remote sector.

• Oil spill cleanup
  IGTOA provided emergency funds for the oil spill in 2000.

• Patrol boat equipment
  IGTOA donated a GPS system and video equipment to be used by the Galapagos National Park rangers when they patrol the islands for illegal fishing.

• Recycling Center
  We supported the Funcacion Galapagos’ Recycling Center on Santa Cruz Island.

• Scholarship for a research project
  We sponsored a graduate student at from Ecuador to make important baseline studies of the Galapagos tortoise at the Charles Darwin Station.

• Scouts program in Puerto Ayora
  We funded a project to provide environmental education and activities for a mixed-gender scout group on the island of Santa Cruz.

• Shark Conservation Campaign
  We supported WildAid in their information campaign to stop illegal shark finning.

• Stray dog and cat neutering
  We gave money to the Charles Darwin Research Station for a program to prevent the further spread of feral cats and dogs on the islands.