Experts defined a plan to ensure the conservation of the pink iguana

27 August 2021
Press Release
Galapagos National Park

• The first actions include the collection of information, construction of a permanent hut on the Wolf volcano and the control of introduced predatory species.

The Directorate of the Galapagos National Park (PNG) together with the Galapagos Conservancy, Island Conservation and Re: Wild held a workshop in Santa Cruz with the aim of defining the strategies, actions, budget and collaborators with whom they will work in each of the activities of research during the implementation of the Management Plan for the Conservation of the Pink Iguana (Conolophus marthae).

Completing the information to identify when and where the pink iguanas nest is the first step, within the Management Plan for the Conservation of the Pink Iguana that was developed by management experts and researchers of the species Conolophus marthae.

Danny Rueda, director of the PNG, pointed out: “the participation of the park rangers in this workshop was fundamental because they are the ones who carry out and collaborate in various research projects of the species,” he added that together with scientists from the Galapagos Conservancy, at the beginning of August, they carried out the Last expedition to this volcano to register these individuals, which allowed estimating a population of 211 pink iguanas.

In the census, 53 iguanas were located and captured, 94% of which live above 1,500 meters above sea level. Camera traps were also set up during the census, both to study the behavior of the iguanas and to document the threats they face.

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Washington Tapia, Conservation Director of the Galapagos Conservancy, noted: “Being restricted to a single site makes the species more vulnerable, considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered and therefore so much urgent action is required to guarantee its conservation ”.

Due to this and other factors analyzed, the plan includes the construction of a permanent monitoring booth at the Wolf volcano, where a systematic control program for introduced predators will also be developed; as well as a risk analysis to avoid impacts on non-target species.

The meeting brought together scientists from the Tor Vergata University of Rome, the Galapagos Conservancy, San Diego Zoo, Houston Zoo and technicians from the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park, Re: Wild and Island Conservation, who are in charge of the systematization of the document that will be ready in the next few months.