Agriculture and conservation in the Galápagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands of Ecuador are an ideal place to examine the relationships among conservation, development and land use. Oceanic islands worldwide are popular tourist destinations, and Galapagos topped the list of the World's Best Islands in Travel and Leisure for October 2010. Field research was carried out during 2009 and 2010 with support from the Inter-American Foundation. While invasive plants, such as guava on Isabela and hill raspberry (Rubus niveus) on Santa Cruz, pose serious problems for agriculture, their impact varies according to farming intensity. Out of a list of eight common obstacles - including insects, labor, machinery, transportation, water, and guava - full-time Isabela farmers, whose land is under crop rotation at least three-quarters of the year, ranked guava next to last. Water, either a shortage or an excess, was their most critical concern.