News

The Cerro Azul volcano located in Isabela Island, Galapagos, continues its eruptive process that started on May 29th. No official report from the Galapagos National Park has been released yet. 

The local media has mentioned in the past hours that the eruption continues its process on the Northeastern flank of the crater. This event doesn’t represent any threat to residents from Isabela, neither to tourists activities.

The Charles Darwin Station researchers are working together with the Galapagos National Park rangers to come up with a better understanding of the magnitude of this event. A land expedition is planned to visit the area affected by the eruption. Authorities  are concern about the tortoises colonies that live in the area may be at risk.

The 5,600-foot  volcano last erupted in September 1998, causing minor damage to plant life. Cerro Azul is located in the unpopulated southwestern corner of the island.

On Thursday, May 29th, around 10 P.M. park rangers reported signs of a new eruptive process at Cerro Azul volcano, in Isabela Island. 

This is a natural event mostly seen in volcanic islands like the Galapagos. 

The Galapagos National Park Service is at the moment monitoring the process of the eruption and they will provide a more detailed report later today.

Tourism activities have not been affected by this natural process.

A group of  the public sector employees, some of them working for the Galapagos National Park, have been protesting this past week against the fact of government authorities proposing to  decrease salaries and benefits for public employees in Ecuador.

The proposal from the Secretaría Nacional Técnica de Remuneraciones (SENRES) is to cut salaries in the public sector of Galapagos, as requested by the 002 mandate that enforces to cut off some of the benefits of the public employees.

The Special Law of Galapagos allows the public sector employees to earn four times more than if they were in Mainland Ecuador. For example, if the salary for a services employee is $395 in Ecuador,  the same position in the Galapagos automatically pays $1580.

The Galapagos National Park and other local institutions’ employees are demanding their benefits to be untouched and respected. The Governor of Galapagos and other local authorities are negotiating to find viable solutions. 

Visitor sites and tourism activities are flowing normally. 

The Galapagos authorities will start applying the Transit Control Card required for all travelers flying to the islands starting on February 25th 2008. The card fee for each traveler will be 10 US dollars.To help travelers in this process, the Galapagos National Institute (INGALA) has opened counters at Quito and Guayaquil airports in which they can buy the Transit Control Card. Local airlines and tour agencies can help passengers with more information and card registration before their departure. For more information and registering to save time, please visit the Transit Control Card Web page at: http://www.ingala.gov.ec/tct/  This card is a new strategy that authorities are using to control and reduce illegal immigration to Galapagos.

Tourism companies are seeking advice on sustainable tourism. And consumers are becoming more and more conscious about the environmental and social impacts of their purchasing.

For this reason, IGTOA is taking part in a program to develop Sustainable Tourism Baseline Criteria, in partnership with Rainforest Alliance, and organizations like the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and the World Conservation Union (IUCNP.

During the month of January a series of consultation activities is taking place with key representatives from the private sector around the world. The main product of this effort will be baseline international criteria for sustainable tourism. This will help IGTOA members to create state of the art operations in the Galapagos Islands.

Learn more about this initiative