Fundar Galapagos launches Ecological Restoration Manual
Fundar Galapagos, a Galapagos NGO run by Carlos Zapata, has recently published a manual to help farmers, landowners and others reintroduce native plant species as a means of helping restore the natural ecology of Galapagos. This in turn will help to combat the spread of invasive alien species and encourage native species to return.
The manual is the work of CDF botanist Ivan Aldaz, a native Galapagueño who has spent 20 years or more studying the plants of Galapagos. The manual deals with 25 of the most threatened species. Ivan is working on a second volume which will include additional native and endemic species.
Native plant species are important for the survival of native vertebrates and invertebrates, as we in New Zealand know only too well. It is good to see the same thought and action being taken in Galapagos where loss of native species is a major problem. The manual has been published with the help of the Galapagos Invasive Species Project which is an initiative of the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) and the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP).