Growth gets a foothold on Galapagos

[YankeyMCC]

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PUERTO AYORA, Ecuador -- An unremarkable day on the archipelago. A taxi honks at a meandering pedestrian. Dockworkers empty another cargo boat, while sunburned tourists listen to their guides explain how the unique fauna here inspired Charles Darwin to develop his theory of evolution.
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His theory explains how the permanent population here jumped from about 2,000 in the 1960s to about 3,000 in the early 1980s, then exploded in recent years toward the estimated 30,000 that has conservationists and local officials scrambling for stricter migration controls. His explanation is so beautifully simple that he can outline it just by rubbing his thumb and index finger together. Money.
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The animals -- giant tortoises, iguanas, finches, blue-footed boobies -- bring in the tourists. The tourists bring in the dollars. The dollars bring in the workers from Ecuador, which controls the islands. The workers naturally want to provide for their families, so they bring them in. The islands, which are about 600 miles off the mainland, evolve very quickly.

"It's a lot easier to live here than it is on the mainland," said Navarrete, 71, who was elected mayor twice in the 1970s. "The pay is better, so everyone wants to come here to work. But we need to control it, because we just don't have the resources to handle this kind of invasion."
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http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2006/12/10/growth_gets_a_foothold_on_galapagos/