Projects & Funding

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.