Quito, December 1, 2016

Drafting Fidal

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Verd magazine for the month of November is now ready to go into circulation. In this edition (number 95) the Galapagos issue will be discussed. As an introduction to this publication, we reproduce the editorial by Rosalía Arteaga Serrano, President of the Fidal Foundation Advisory Council:

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The first time I visited the Galapagos Islands I was 17 years old, I went with a group of schoolmates, all excited, dizzy by the journey in old Calicuchima, but dazzled by the color of the islands, by the birds, the iguanas, the turtles, sea lions, black corals, the variety of shells, the friendliness of the islanders.

The beauties remained etched on my retina, so much so that I considered the nickname of Enchanted Islands that is frequently given to them, since the time of their discoverer, the friar Tomás de Berlanga, bishop of Panama, totally appropriate.

The second time I visited the islands, I did it as Minister of Education, and there the perception was different, of course, without ceasing to admire the scenic beauty, I learned about the poor reality of the inhabitants of the islands, many of them so abandoned from the hand of the state that, between jokes and truth, told me that they considered themselves less than the finches, the blue-footed boobies and the very turtles that give the archipelago its name.

Thus, a place considered a paradise by many visitors, suffers, on the other hand, from shortcomings and neglect of the population and also always requires rigorous policies that have to do with the preservation of its peculiar flora and fauna.

The islands as a whole need adequate policies so that, on the one hand, this extraordinary natural laboratory, patrimony of humanity, is maintained, with all its terrestrial, marine and underwater riches, landscapes and for the study of scientists, and on the other, attention is paid to the requirements of its inhabitants and settlers, providing them with the support that a dignified life requires.

The Galapagos are a world heritage site, but before that they are an Ecuadorian heritage and so are those of those who live in it and care for it.