Floreana Island, Galápagos, Ecuador

Floreana Restoration Project:
A much-beloved global treasure

 

THE PROJECT: Floreana Island Restoration 



LOCATION: Floreana Island, Galápagos, Ecuador

THE WORK: The restoration of Floreana Island’s holistic ecosystem 
will benefit not only native wildlife, but also the health, agricultural production, and tourism endeavors of the local community. 
The project will reintroduce at least 12 species that have been locally extirpated from Floreana.

SPECIES: Floreana Giant Tortoise, the Floreana Racer, the Vermillion Flycatcher, the Galápagos Rail, the Galápagos Hawk, the Lava Gull, the Floreana Mockingbird and five species of Darwin’s Finches.

COMMUNITY: Restoring local communities’ natural food sources and independent cultivation.

TIMELINE: Holistic restoration by 2027

About Floreana Island

Floreana Island is located on the southern end of the Galápagos Archipelago off the west coast of continental Ecuador. It has the highest concentration of species threatened by invasive mammals of any Galápagos Island, with 54 IUCN Red-Listed species present. The incredible biodiversity includes birds, such as the endemic Floreana Medium Tree-finch, the endemic Galápagos Petrel, and the Floreana Mockingbird. Surrounding Floreana lie beautiful coral reefs and an abundance of fish and other marine species, including Galápagos sea lions, King Angel Fish, Balloon Fish, Hawkfish, Hammerhead Sharks, Galápagos Penguins and Green Sea Turtles.

The island is also home to a community of roughly 140 people who rely on tourism and on local agriculture, utilizing the rich soil that has developed over many years. Sustainability is an integral part of daily community discussions, as farming plays such an important role and local resources are extremely vulnerable. The Floreana community has watched in disappointment over the years as damaging, non-native (invasive) rodents and feral cats contributed to the local extinctions of endemic species (found nowhere else in the world) and negatively impacted the local economy.

These outsider species disrupt the ecological balance shaped by centuries of evolution by killing or driving out indigenous species, re-engineering natural processes, spreading disease, and ultimately compromising food security for the community. This also reduces the number of special animals and plants that tourists travel from far and wide to see.

Voices from the community

Invasive species are destroying our island. They devour crops and are
pushing our seabird populations to the brink of extinction. We catch fewer
fish every year. By removing invasive species, we can restore both the land and the sea and provide more ecotourism
 opportunities for the first time on an inhabited island in the archipelago.

Our livelihoods, our health and the next generation’s future depend on it.

— Max Freire, Floreana Island native and fisherman

Project Partners and Funders

Bell Laboratories, Inc.
Blue Action Fund
Charities Aid Foundation Canada
Charles Darwin Foundation
Conservation International
Foundation, Corporacion Andina de Fomento (Development Bank of Latin America)
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Ecoventura, Fondation Ensemble
Fondo Especies Invasoras
Galápagos, Fundación Jocotoco
Galápagos Biosecurity Agency
Galápagos Conservancy
Galápagos Conservation Trust
Galápagos National Park
Global Environment Facility
Island Conservation
Konrad Lorenz Research Center – Vienna University
Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (German Development Bank)
Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Fund
The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund
Once Upon a Time Foundation

Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Silversea Cruises
Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation
The Conservation Foundation
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The International Galápagos Tour Operators Association
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust the U.K. Government (through The Darwin Initiative)
Tourism Cares
Re:wild
The Raptor Center
UNIGALAPAGOS
WildAid
Willow Grove Foundation
Other anonymous donors.

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