The Galápagos Islands are one of the biggest marine reserves in the world, home to a complex dynamic between its inhabitants, tourists, and biodiversity. Therefore, control over the logistics surrounding the resulting human mobilization process is fundamental to minimize the impact on the Islands' natural resources. This research gathers relevant information regarding the operation of the maritime transportation system of the islands and the waste management of its floating population based on official sources as well as in-situ observation. This chapter includes three sections with the purpose of maximizing the range of information analyzed. The first section covers the maritime cargo transportation from the continent to the islands. The second one covers the transportation of people between the islands, and the third covers the transportation and management of waste produced by each island. The information covers the institutions and policies that govern each of the systems considered and can serve to optimize the transportation logistics of the Galápagos Islands.
TopIntroduction
From a worldwide perspective, islands such as Galápagos represent a special case where challenges in transport, trade and mobility meet. In 2014, the Trade and Development Board for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) highlighted the vulnerabilities common to small island developing States (SIDS). Although the Galapagos Islands are not a country, they tackle a great majority of the problems SIDS do. Their restrictions include limited access to economies of scale due to low cargo volumes, limited resources for infrastructure and equipped vessels, unreliable inter-island domestic shipping, high dependency on imports from the mainland, among others. In response to these exacerbating factors, the UNCTAD emphasizes the need for resilient transportation systems that integrate all the components for the islands’ development and survival (TFa, Ports, & Publications, 2014).
The Galápagos Islands is one of the 24 provinces of Ecuador, situated about 1000 km from the coastline of the continent. These islands have several titles, including: National Park (1959), Natural World Heritage (1978), and Biosphere Reserve (1985) (Ecogal S.A., n.d.). Although the Archipelago is comprised of a total of 19 islands, according to the 2015 census, 3 of these contain 86% of the inhabitants (Consejo de Gobierno del Regimen Especial de Galápagos [Governing Council of the Special Regimen for Galápagos] (CGREG), 2016). Santa Cruz has the highest population with 15,701 people, then San Cristóbal with 7,199 people, and Isabela with 2,344 people (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos [Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Censuses] (INEC), 2015). There is also a fourth minimally inhabited island, Floreana, managed by Santa Cruz’s municipality. The touristic relevance of the islands is significant, given that between 2009 and 2018, the tourists’ number increased from 163,000 to 276,000, over the years, representing an annual compound growth rate of over 6% (Dirección del Parque Nacional Galápagos [Galapagos National Park Directorate] (DPNG), 2019a).
Additionally, the island’s unique flora and fauna make them one of the most biodiverse places in the world. Therefore, the activities carry out there must be designed to preserve such biodiversity. One of the main activities is the human mobilization process, including three perspectives: (1) the transportation of maritime cargo from the continent to the Archipelago, (2) the transportation of people between the islands, and (3) the transportation and management of waste produced.
The rapid growth of tourists and inhabitants has triggered an expansion in the amount of supplies that are transported to the islands through the maritime cargo system. In 2011, ships assigned to deliver cargo to the islands carried between 800-900 tons of goods per trip. This cargo comprised 60% construction materials, 20% dry food and grains, 10% fresh products and 10% miscellaneous cargo (Brewington et al., 2012). In 2016, this value increased to 1,700 tons of goods per trip, inflating the demand for maritime cargo (Salazar, 2016). The islands’ merchants consider that this demand has been poorly managed by the authorities (CGREG, 2012). Thus, the government institution overseeing the maritime cargo transport system has agreed to develop long-term strategies to improve the overall system’s conditions. (CGREG, 2016).