Over the last decades, the Galapagos Islands have faced a considerable rise in human activities (tourism, population growth and migration, exploitation of natural resources like fishing and agriculture) which has resulted in increased pressure on both, the marine and terrestrial ecological system of the islands. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a management system that allows controlling of human interaction with the islands’ environment and adjusting human activities to its limited capacities. GIS has been identified as a proper tool for an integrated information-management system that allows local authorities and communities to take better action on all decisive assets of their living environment and get prepared to handle at best the challenges of a vulnerable and unique island ecosystem in the 21st century.
A selected group of GIS-experts from academia, GIS-practitioners, representatives of local authorities and initiatives is aiming at designing a conceptual framework for an integrated GIS-based information-management system for Galapagos in cooperation with local authorities and representatives of communities. This scheme should provide an all-encompassing base for efficient, effective and appropriate resource management of the islands.
