Tourism Threatens Galapagos Islands

"Famed for their unique biological treasures, the Galapagos Islands face irreversible damage unless tourism is curbed, according to conservationists.

On the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, the director of the Darwin Foundation says there is only a decade to avoid an ecological disaster.

In a BBC interview, Gabriel Lopez calls for limits on the level of visitors.

Last year, the number of tourists reached a record of 173,000, a four-fold increase over the past 20 years.

The rising numbers have led to a boom in the construction of hotels and a surge in imports from mainland Ecuador.

And the result is a sharp spike in the number of alien species arriving in this fragile ecosystem: 112 were recorded in 1900 but by 2007 the total had leaped to 1,321. "

ORIGINAL SOURCE: BBC NEWS