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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Project Floreana
Final Report from the Charles Darwin Foundation to
Friends of Galapagos Netherlands
March 28, 2014
With black beaches, lush highlands, diverse marine life, and a
quaint town, Floreana Island is truly a
remarkable place. The island was the first to host human
inhabitants but since their arrival almost
two centuries ago, it has been greatly degraded in many areas,
some to the point of no return.
Habitat loss and the introduction of invasive species, such as
cats and rats, have led to the extinction
of a total of ten species on the island, including birds,
reptiles, and a plant species. Nevertheless,
Floreana Island is shaping into the prototype for all other
inhabited islands of the Galapagos
Archipelago. While the conditions are far from ideal, the island
has the potential to be a self-
sufficient, self-contained system that will retain the unique
Galapagos biodiversity while also
allowing for the local population to meet their social and
economic needs. This is the goal of Project
Floreana, a flagship project of the Charles Darwin
Foundation.
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Project Floreana Page 2
CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Project Background
Much planning has gone into the continuation of the project and
with the generous support of the
Friends of Galapagos Netherlands, these plans have resulted in
actions and results. The majority of
the projects various components have been separated into two
categories: i) ecological restoration
through the Waterboxx Project and ii) the reintroduction of the
Floreana mockingbird. Project
Floreana continues to use a holistic and dynamic approach to
address these issues.
We are especially grateful to the Friends of Galapagos
Netherlands for enabling us to meet with Mr.
Ferweda, which led to CDFs collaboration with the COmON
Foundation, sponsors of the Waterboxx
project in Floreana, which is described below.
This report outlines and highlights advances in the project
leading up to and throughout 2013. The
restoration focus of the project has been incorporated into the
Waterboxx/Galpagos Verde 2050
Project, while maintaining the Floreana Mockingbird
Reintroduction Project, and this work forms the
basis of this report.
Waterboxx/Galpagos Verde 2050
The evolution of Project Floreana has led to the widespread use
of Groasis Technology as part of the
major effort to restore the islands flora. The technology is
based on a plant propagation system,
known as a Waterboxx. The system allows water to flow directly
to the intended plant, and in so
doing ensures that limited amounts of water are utilized to
maximum effect. These will be used for
ecological restoration, as well as to encourage ways of making
Floreana a self-sufficient island
through the production of foodstuffs for local consumption. The
goal is a functional and self-
sustaining system.
The Groasis Technology in use with an endemic opuntia cactus CDF
2014
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Results and Impacts
Approximately 3000 square meters of native gardens were planted
using the Groasis Technology, in
which 12 families in the urban area of Floreana took part and 3
in the rural area. This success was
greatly thanks to the efforts of Estalin Jimenez, a Field
Assistant for the CDF. He worked with
community members to demonstrate the technology and to assist
with its implementation (see
Annex 1).
Nearly 400 endemic plants have been planted in various areas,
including: the highlands of Floreana,
public areas, the schools garden, and private gardens. The
Charles Darwin Research Station, located
on the island of Santa Cruz, even has a few Waterboxxes in its
gardens. Visitors to the station can
see first-hand what work is being done for conservation in
Galapagos. Thanks to a poster created by
the Waterboxx team (see Annex 1), visitors can also know more
about the technology and its
application on Floreana.
Groasis Technology installed on a farm located in the humid zone
of Floreana with native plant CDF 2014
This particular project is an integral component of a much
larger scale project to be implemented in
Floreana. The Reforestation and Agricultural Production using
Groasis Technology Pilot Project
(referred to hereafter as the Waterboxx Project) has tackled two
pressing needs on Floreana Island:
ecological restoration of habitat through reforestation, and
local efficient agricultural production to
reduce reliance on freight transport. The results obtained from
this pilot project, and many meetings
with local stakeholders by CDFs Deputy Executive Director meant
that we were able to
communicate the projects success and demonstrate how it could be
applied on a larger scale. The
successful outcome has led to the launch of a comprehensive
reforestation plan called Galpagos
Verde 2050. In addition to a communication campaign with
international impact jointly led by
the CDF, GNPD and Agua, Vida y Naturaleza the projects aim to
present the lessons learned and
achievements of the Waterboxx project in Floreana has been
achieved. A booklet describing the
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
project, its objectives, its outcomes, and future plans has been
laid out in a professionally designed
package (see Annex 1).It is through this product that the CDF
will be able to share its success with
more of the world.
The Floreana Mockingbird Reintroduction Project
Floreana Mockingbird CDF 2014
The Floreana Mockingbird is an icon of its namesake island, but
for over a century it has not been
able to make Floreana its home. The main reasons behind its
disappearance from Floreana Island are
believed to be habitat loss and the introduction of invasive
species both due to an increase in the
human presence on the small island. As one of four species of
mockingbird in Galapagos, it has been
a main priority of the Charles Darwin Foundations work since
2008. Given its status as a critically
endangered species, the Floreana Mockingbird (herein referred to
as mockingbird) is a point of
focus for conservation work in the Archipelago.
Plenty of research and planning has gone into how a portion of
the population can be reintroduced
to the main island of Floreana. These birds are now restricted
to two islets located off the coast of
Floreana: Gardner and Champion. It was the aim of the project to
better understand these
populations and the threats they face, and to reinstate some of
them to their native habitat on
Floreana Island, with the ultimate goal of improving the species
survival possibilities as part of the
overall restoration of Floreana Island.
Results and Impacts
The Floreana Mockingbird Project, a component of Project
Floreana, included monitoring and
ringing of the mockingbird populations of Gardner and Champion
Islets. On a day trip to Champion
Islet in July 2012, monitoring was very successful: 58
mockingbirds were counted and confirmed
alive (see Annex 2). At the end of July 2012, a 5 day visit to
Gardner Islet was also made to monitor
previously ringed mockingbirds. During this trip, CDF scientist
Dr Luis Ortiz-Catedral and a
professional volunteer replaced the plastic rings with ionized
metal ones. Despite extreme rain and
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
rough conditions during the trip, the two pressed on with the
work and a total of 98 mockingbirds
were confirmed alive.
One of 10 juveniles captured and ringed on Champion Islet. CDF
2014
The program also included extensive work to complete the
database of mockingbird records from
June 2006 to June 2012. Thanks to the over 600 hours of work,
crucial retrospective research on the
critically endangered bird was also possible.
As with many other aspect of Project Floreana, there were
collaborative efforts between the CDF
and the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD). Coordination
with the GNPD staff on Floreana
was undertaken to establish whether Punta Cormorant, a peninsula
on the northern side of the
island (see Annex 2), could be a suitable site for a predator
control perimeter for rats and cats (two
of the mockingbirds biggest threats). Mockingbirds are known to
build their nests 1 to 2m above the
ground, making them an easy target for introduced predators such
as cats and rats. Therefore it is
crucial that these threats are eliminated from Floreana before
the mockingbird can be reintroduced.
Beyond field work and research, an objective of this project was
to interact with the community of
Floreana Island and to collaborate with them. Under the umbrella
of Project Floreana, an education
campaign, The voyage that changed the world, was organized by
CDF staff member Christina
Georgii and attended by 30 local children from Floreana Island.
As part of this campaign, Dr Luis
Ortiz-Catedral talked with the children about the importance of
studying the mockingbird and what
exactly his field work entailed. To make it more engaging for
the young ones, he brought Mario, a
stuffed toy mockingbird, with which he demonstrated capturing,
measuring, and ringing techniques
(see photos below). It was a great success and complemented by a
day-trip to Champion Islet for the
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
children. From the boat, many mockingbirds were observed this
was the first time any of the
children had ever seen one. There is no doubt that this unique
trip helped in creating a very
significant first sighting of the bird for all of the 30
children.
Luis Ortiz-Catedral with group of children from Floreana Island,
using Mario, the stuffed toy mockingbird,
to demonstrate his work with the mockingbird (right). CDF
2014
Conclusion
As was the goal from the beginning, Floreana is becoming an
ideal model for the Archipelago. As can
be seen with the Waterboxx project, endemic and native flora
have flourished both as parts of CDFs
work and also within the community of Floreana, with the
interest of the community members.
Using a holistic, participatory, and science-based approach to
Project Floreana has proved to be a
successful way to tackle some of the primary issues of the
island.
Future Plans
Thanks to the Waterboxx initiative, the projects success has
prompted evolution to an archipelago-
wide plan. This new initiative, called Galpagos Verde 2050 will
carry out ecological restoration
and reforestation on other islands of the archipelago that have
seen similar destruction to that of
Floreana. Furthermore, the thorough approach to studying the
Floreana Mockingbird is making its
reintroduction ever more possible in the near future.
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Financial Report
Report period: June 2012 March 2014
Income $USD Expenditure $USD
Income $25,000
Carried forward $5,700
Total income $30,700
Personnel $25,232
Travel $ 0
Equipment & supplies $ 0
Shipping & Communications $ 0
Other $ 0
Total direct costs $25,232
Overhead $ 5,468
Total expenditure $30,700
Balance remaining $ 0
Notes to the financial report:
1. Income: $25,000 donation was received in December 2012.
2. Carried forward: this is the sum that was received from the
previous accounting system
when the changeover was implemented on June 1, 2012.
3. (Expenditure): This grant was used for personnel costs of
staff working on Project Floreana:
Jose Naula, who was the Floreana-based Field Technician during
the period June to
December 2012, and for CDF Deputy Executive Director Felipe
Cruz, in relation to his work
on the Galpagos Verde 2050 and Waterboxx projects in 2013 and
early 2014; Felipes
salary for November and December 2013 has been charged to this
grant.
4. Overhead: the CDFs standard overhead of 28% has been applied
to this grant.
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Annex 1: Groasis Technology/Galpagos Verde 2050
Image 1: Estalin Jimenez, field assistant, installing a
Waterboxx with Parkinsonia aculeata. CDF 2014
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Image 2: The Waterboxx team, working with local gardeners to
prepare the land for the installation of
Waterboxxes. CDF 2014 (Estalin Jimenez)
Image 3: Mr Claudio Cruz, demonstrating the project and Groasis
Technology with an avocado plant. The
protective wooden case prevents invasive/introduced animals from
trampling or eating the young plant.
CDF 2014
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Image 4: Waterboxx poster CDF 2014
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Image 5: Cover of the Galpagos Verde 2050 report. For full PDF
document, please see Dropbox. CDF 2014
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CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION, PO Box 17-1-3891, Quito, Ecuador
www.darwinfoundation.org
Annex 2: Floreana mockingbird reintroduction
Image 1: Punta Cormorant, Floreana Island, with visitor path
visible. CDF 2014
Image 2: One of 98 Floreana mockingbirds counted on Gardner
Islet. CDF 2014