Galápagos without plastic waste

The project "Plastic Free Galápagos" works in close cooperation with the Galápagos National Park Authority (GNPD) and the GALAPAGOS CONSERVATION TRUST (GCT) from London. Our association has also supported this project several times financially. The aim of the work is to find the best approach to control plastic waste on the Galápagos Islands. The main focus is not only on the plastic waste generated on the islands, but also on the plastic washed ashore from the East Pacific.

In this ambitious programme, GCT brings together not only many NGOs but also the local communities on Galápagos, international scientists from the fields of oceanography, marine biology, ecotoxicology, environmental psychology and archaeology. Together, they want to use the latest findings from science and research in combination with targeted education and public relations work in order to free the unique Galápagos archipelago from plastic pollution again.

Success in this undertaking would be transferable to other islands or island groups and other countries, as well. This would be a good approach to eliminating plastic waste in the oceans.

For this reason, GCT has organised an interesting webinar on "Galápagos without plastic pollution" in the summer of 2020. You can watch it here.

At the time of the webinar, the Galápagos Islands were still in lockdown and all fieldwork on the islands had stopped. However, in the Netherlands, Dr Erik Sebille from Uetrecht University, had produced oceanographic computer modelling and is presenting this to the webinar participants. These interesting images and research are very interesting. Additionally, Jen Jones, the GCT's head of programmes and Andrew Donnelly, the project leader of "Plastic Pollution Free Galápagos", will give interesting insights into the developments of the project.