Origins story in Equador

Conservation is key to preserving the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands, finds Sarah Marshall

Ripe, juicy and delicious in jam, fresh blackberries are a joy for foragers. But in the Galapagos Islands, they leave a sour taste in the mouth. Following a trail around the twin sinkholes of Los Gemelos on Santa Cruz Island, my naturalist guide, Blanca, explains how native scalesia forest was attacked by brambles, suffocating the broccoli-like trees endemic to this biologically sensitive archipelago.

And then there were the feral goats, she continues, as we peer into a crater almost 700 metres deep, where the animals once resided. They too wreaked havoc on the delicate landscape. Yet when they disappeared, one of their food sources, blackberries, flourished.

Unwittingly or not, invasive species were introduced to this far-flung Ecuadorian archipelago, 600 miles off the west coast of South America, by humans, who – some might argue – were the most damaging addition of them all.

It’s something environ mentally conscious visitors to Galapagos now face; as much as we want to witness the unique creatures and plants that thrive on these volcanic outcrops in the Pacific Ocean, our mere presence potentially does them harm.

One organisation hoping to restore and maintain balance is the Charles Darwin Foundation, an NGO set up in 1959, which celebrates its Diamond anniversary this year.

The visitor centre on Santa Cruz is also the resting place of Lonesome George, the Pinta Island giant tortoise, whose death in 2012 marked the extinction of his sub-species. I was lucky enough to see George alive shortly before he died; now the embalmed wrinkled rarity stares back at me from a glass cabinet in a temperature-controlled room, which visitors can only enter for six minutes at a time. What could be interpreted as a macabre showpiece turns out to be something far more chilling; an example of what might happen to other island inhabitants unless we all take note.

Protecting the islands’ native residents is a daily struggle, science director Maria Jose Barragan Paladines tells me.

The latest major threat is the Philornis downsi fly, whose larvae hatch in the nests of mangrove finches and crawl into the nostrils of young chicks. The number of these feathered creatures, found only on Isabela island, now stands at less than 100, making them the most endangered bird in Galapagos. In this case, survival of the fittest doesn’t seem fair.

Influenced by three ocean currents,

Galapagos has become a dumping ground for rubbish washed into the sea, and beach clean-ups are one of the key priorities for the Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT). Over the course of last year, plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam cups were banned, part of a growing movement to make the Galapagos Marine Reserve plastic-free.

A shining example is Isabela, one of the four inhabited islands, which now uses 100 per cent renewable energy thanks to a new hybrid electricity generation system combining solar power and, bizarrely, a biofuel derived from a tropical nut.

The largest of the archipelago’s 19 islands and scores of islets, Isabela is a mass of twisted lava and five active volcanoes, including Sierra Negra, which erupted last year. There are no roads in the northern sector, with several landing sites accessed only by expedition cruise ships, but the south has a buzzy community of bars at Puerto Villamil, overlooking flamingo-filled lagoons and beaches sprawled with marine iguanas.

One of the area’s geological wonders is Los Tuneles, a series of flooded lava tunnels and archways, where reef sharks navigate an aquatic maze and

Clockwise: an iguana crossing the road on Isabela Island; a giant tortoise; boobies at Los Tuneles

blue-footed boobies dance around pillars of cacti. Nearby, an area has been designated for snorkelling, which offers excellent opportunities for marine wildlife viewing.

Green sea turtles glide alongside me, unperturbed by the humanshaped obstacle in their path, and a circus of rainbow wrasse, yellowtailed surgeonfish and panamic sergeant major perform a somersault of colours before my eyes.

Duck-diving into a cave, I discover a shiver of white-tipped reef sharks sleeping and circling; again, not one of them seems to notice I’m there.

But the best surprise comes in the smallest form – a male Pacific seahorse, anchored to the seabed by its prehensile tail. Like a caricature, it doesn’t look real; a fantasy form only nature could create.

It’s proof, that sometimes little things can have the greatest impact. When it comes to conservation on the Galapagos Islands, baby steps are maturing into giant strides. ■

Duck-diving into a cave, I discover a shiver of white-tipped reef sharks

Chimu Adventures (chimu adventures.com; 020 7403 8265) offers a 12-day land based ‘Highlights of Galapagos, Guayaquil and Quito’ tour, starting from £5,735pp (two sharing), including a stay at Scalesia Lodge on Isabela Island, with daily excursions, transfers and internal flights.