Please find below the latest news from FOGNZ. We try to keep this page as up to date as possible, however there is always some delay and it is worthwhile checking other sites with Galapagos News as well:
- http://www.darwinfoundation.org/english/pages/index.php
- http://www.galapagospark.org/noticias.php
- http://www.savegalapagos.org/news
- http://www.igtoa.org/news/
- http://www.neweragalapagos.org
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A new way to Explore Galapagos
The Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD) have partnered with Google Maps and the Catlin Seaview Survey to collect 360-degree imagery of the Galapagos Islands. The imagery will be available on Google Maps later this year via Google’s Street View feature. When the imagery is live, anyone can view it on Google Maps and use it for research, management, education and exploration without actually ever setting foot there.
To read more click here
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Project Noah
The Charles Darwin Foundation has teamed up with Project Noah to create an exclusive “mission” entitled Galapagos Biodiversity. Your camera skills and love of Galapagos can now contribute to the understanding of the distribution of native, endemic and introduced species. Simply upload photographs taken in Galapagos with the time and the place of the spotting and any notes you wish to add. A global audience of nature lovers can view your images, add comments and help identify species. Soon, CDF scientists will be helping identify those difficult to classify. Visit the Project Noah Galapagos Biodiversity mission by clicking here . Happy snapping!
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The 18-KM2 Rat Trap
This is a very interesting article on rat eradication in Galapagos including New Zealand expertise and personnel being referenced. Click on the below link to read all about it.
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Iguana smuggler goes to jail
A problem that New Zealand also faces – the smuggling of native species.
Press Release from Galapagos National Park 4-2-2013 Dirk Bender Sentenced to four years in prison.
The German citizen Dirk Bender will serve a sentence of four years in prison as indicated by the President of the Court which found him guilty of the crime of attempting to export native species from Galapagos. The Judges made clear that the sentence should be served in Guayaquil, as Galapagos has no suitable prison. The time he has already spent in detention in Galapagos will be deducted from the sentence.
Dirk Bender was stopped in the airport in Baltra in July 2012, when he was found to have four endemic Galapagos Land Iguanas Conolophus subcristatus in his luggage. The Court also ordered Bender, following the specific request of the Director of the Galapagos National Park, Edwin Naula, to pay the costs and damages resulting from his action.
The judges from the Galapagos Criminal court No. 1 ordered that the sentence be served in Guayaquil.
Comment from FOGNZ.
This sentence is intended to send a very clear message, that species smuggling is a very serious offence and is very damaging to the Galapagos and its unique Wildlife. It is a real victory for the Galapagos National Park which has to contend with a judiciary which is not always as supportive as it might be.
Bender is a repeat offender and a serial animal smuggler. In December 2011 he was caught by Fiji customs attempting to smuggle a pregnant Fiji Crested Iguana out of Fiji, he was fined $15,000 for that offence, having previously had 8 iguanas confiscated from him by Fijian police.
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Checklist of parasitic lice from the Galapagos Islands
We have received a Zootaxa annotated checklist of parasitic lice from the Galapagos Islands. If you would like to have a copy for research purposes please let us know by sending an email to info@galapagos.co.nz
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Human Mobility Study
Click on below link for Charles Darwin Foundation article on human mobility research to understand patterns of population movement in Galapagos.