History of the campaign

Introduction
Travel restrictions imposed to curb the #COVID19 pandemic have affected conservation activities and the economic livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people in natural areas. This includes the Galapagos Islands, with a highly tourism-dependent economy (250,000 visitors per year) employing over 80% of its population. This impact on the territory has generated an unprecedented economic impact, increasing pressure on natural resources, putting at risk the most vulnerable ecosystems of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and complicating efforts to conserve its biodiversity.

Our Project
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ecuador, together with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), has developed a project for the Galapagos Islands. This initiative, in a first stage, intends to carry out a collaborative process supporting the economic recovery of the population. During this phase, selected people from the Galapagos Islands will carry out conservation and protection activities in various areas of the territory in exchange for a salary that will help mitigate the economic impact on their homes.

In a second stage, an income will be provided for educational/training activities while there are no visitors to the islands. As a result, the population is expected to improve or create new ideas and enterprises to strengthen the economic capacities of the community.

Finally, the most innovative and inclusive projects will undergo an additional mentoring phase with academic experts in technical, operational and business management, in order to ensure the development and sustainability of their proposals. These entrepreneurs will obtain funds for their improvement and reactivation plan, as well as access to technical assistance to accompany the implementation of the proposal.

Our goal
This campaign has a fundraising goal of $100,000. We believe in collaboration. Together we can guarantee quality of life, decent work and environmental protection for the world's most important living laboratory of biodiversity.