Where the wild things are is often where inquisitive travelers congregate, potentially setting up a love-it-to-death dynamic in the visited environment.

The Galapagos Islands is a region folks love to visit. Managing environmental and infrastructure demands created by upwards of 145,000 visitors a year is front of mind with one visionary travel company. Ecoventura has taken an environmental leadership role to create structure that will ensure that visitors can continue to come here.

This family-owned cruise company transports 4,000+ passengers annually aboard a fleet of three expedition vessels, identical, superior first-class 20-passenger yachts with 10 double cabins. They also operate a state-of-the-art live-aboard dive boat, the M/Y Sky Dancer.

One of Ecoventura’s vessels, the M/Y Eric, was recently modified to accommodate sustainability concerns, namely the use of fossil fuels. The hope is to have the remainder of the fleet refitted with hybrid wind and solar power by 2011.

Santiago Dunn, Ecoventura’s visionary president and owner, hopes that his company’s leadership will also impact other companies that showcase this fragile ecosystem to thousands of visitors annually. At present there are an estimated 80 registered tour boats that ply Galapagos waters transporting folks to all ends of the archipelago.

Darwin’s paradise seen under the expert guidance of Ecoventura focuses on these small yachts to diminish environmental impact on the eco-system. Once in the habitat of myriad creatures, small groups of no more than 10 persons per guide hike lava fields and beach. Guests also snorkel, kayak and dive to witness sea life and marine mammals. Dunn views as his most important life work the mission of sustaining and ameliorating the quality of the marine environment in this region known as The Galapagos.

To this end in the past decade, Dunn has through a series of targeted projects, led Ecoventura to become the pacesetter in establishing regional standards for responsible and sustainable environmental practices. As a result of these efforts, following are a few of Ecoventura’s projects and resulting accolades:

• In 2000, Ecoventura became one of the first recipients of SmartVoyager, a voluntary environmental certification developed by Rainforest Alliance and Corporacion y Desarollo. The program gives a “green seal of approval” to tour boats that comply with requirements to tread lightly on the area’s fragile eco-system. In order to adhered to Smart Voyager’s guidelines, Dunn and his team implemented various rigorous measure, including: purchasing water makers (reverse osmosis) systems for yachts; treating waste water (black and grey) with purified ozone; and replacing all the engines on dinghies with four stroke engines, which are quieter and use less fuel.
• In 2005, Dunn received the prestigious Individual Sustainable Standard-Setter award for making a significant contribution to environmental conservation.
• In 2006, Ecoventura in partnership with NativeEnergy, became the first Carbon Neutral operation in Galapagos (and Ecuador) and also with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) established the Galapagos Marine Biodiversity Fund (GMBF) with the objective to strengthen the local communities’ ability to manage natural resources through environmental education and marine conservation. Since the fund was created, it has raised $171,000.00, of which $160,950.00 directly benefits various projects.
• In October 2008, 40 solar panels and two wind generators were installed to Ecoventura’s M/Y ERIC, thereby launching the first hybrid tout yacht in the Galapagos. The goal is to produce 9kw per day or the equivalent of 17% of the energy used to run the on board generators be powered by alternative renewable energy. The project was financed through a partnership with Toyota, a supporter of the WWF and GMBF and other conservation programs in Galapagos.
• On November 12, 2008, Ecoventura was presented with the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism – Best in a Marine Environment award during World Travel Market in London. The citation noted the company’s contributions toward improving conditions for local people in Galapagos and for being among the first operators to be independently audited.

Even as this work is going on, in the summer of 2007, UNESCO put the Galapagos on its World Heritage sites risk list, citing alien species and pollution from tourists and immigrants as key issues. Dunn views this as a positive step because, he said, “It will raise awareness so that corrective measures are taken.”

>> Contact Ecoventura: toll-free 1.800.633.7972, or e-mail info@galapagosnetwork.com.
>> Find Ecoventura on Ecotourism Explorer