Conservation worries about the Galápagos Islands have heightened in the wake of a controversial cruise-ship visit and an international delegation’s trip to the archipelago to assess the state of environmental protection efforts. The delegation, comprising experts from Unesco and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), met in March with a variety of Galápagos stakeholders to gather information for a report for Unesco’s World Heritage Committee. The Unesco panel is expected to use the report to decide in July whether to list the Galápagos as a threatened heritage site, a move that could damage the islands’ pristine image, potentially affecting tourism and international-cooperation programs. “The World Heritage Committee has expressed serious concerns about the Galápagos,” says Marc Patry, a Unesco natural heritage specialist who led... [Log in to read more]