ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION IN SPECIAL USE SITES

Ecological restoration and evaluation of diversity in special use sites (mines and garbage dumps)

The human population in Galapagos has been growing exponentially in recent decades, which means an increase in the basic needs that must be provided to the population, such as education, food, health and waste management. The latter implies an additional area dedicated to sanitary landfills, organic matter for composting, management of recyclable material, and hazardous waste such as hospital waste. Inadequate management may cause significant levels of degradation in the natural ecosystems of the Galapagos (Ragazzi et al., 2014).
To meet population growth necessities, the GNPD (Galapagos National Park Directorate) decided to establish some specific sites under the category of "Special use sites" or "SUS" (Jaramillo, 1998). Some examples of SUS are garbage dumps on all the inhabited islands of the archipelago and gravel mines (Jaramillo, 1998; Jaramillo et al., 2015a; Jaramillo et al., 2015b ). In this context, the Galapagos Verde 2050 (GV2050) has selected SUS as study sites to carry out ecological restoration efforts using water-saving technologies (SWT) (Jaramillo et al., 2015a). This project will investigate the restoration process in these spaces and continue the restoration of the most affected sites through the propagation of native and endemic plants. Therefore, the main objective is to recover the degraded mines (Floreana and San Cristóbal) and abandoned garbage dumps (Baltra and Floreana) with important native and endemic plants from the Galapagos flora.

Garbage dump in Floreana

Black gravel mine in Floreana

Garbage Dump in Baltra

Black gravel Mine "Mirador Cerro Colorado" in San Cristobal

Timeline

The GV2050 was born in 2013 as a single project with two components: ecological restoration and sustainable agriculture, keeping this structure until 2021, when it takes the category of Program made up of 7 different projects.

The GV2050 Program has been divided into three different phases: the first includes its beginning in 2013 until July 2017; the second, which started in July 2017 and finishes in July 2027; and the third stage will begin in August 2027 and will last until the end of 2050.

In the period from 2013 to 2021, various experiments with water-saving technologies were carried out in the different study sites (dumps and mines) that are currently active. The Special Use Sites restoration project began in 2014 with the restoration of the old garbage dumps in Baltra and Floreana and the black gravel mine in Floreana. In 2019, the black gravel mine, "Mirador Cerro Colorado" in San Cristóbal, was included. The sites will increase until the project ends in the year 2050.

Program phases in the period from 2014 to 2050

Special use sites on three inhabited islands of the archipelago.

Obtained results

Our study sites, the gravel mine and the garbage dumps in Floreana and Baltra, have been intervened for more than eight years, obtaining successful results.

In Floreana, the most outstanding result is the recovery of 100% of the biodiversity of endemic species in the black gravel mine, making a successful model of ecological restoration.

2014 2017

Before (left) and after (right), the ecological restoration of the black gravel mine on Floreana by the GV2050 team and collaborators.

In Baltra, the project focuses on restoring the old garbage dump, where more than 4,000 plants of 12 different species have been planted, covering an area of approximately three hectares.

The GV2050 team, working on the ecological restoration of Baltra´s garbage dump.

Finally, in San Cristóbal, the project focuses on restoration with endemic and native species from the black gravel mine "Mirador Cerro Colorado". Some of the species planted in this special-use site are Calandrinia galapagosa, Lecocarpus darwinii and Cordia lutea, all three with successful results.

Restoration work by the GV2050 team at the "Mirador Cerro Colorado" mine in San Cristóbal.

Can you imagine how many plants we have planted in the Special Use Sites?
Since the GV2050 program was launched in 2014, a total of 2,395 native and endemic plants have been sown at the Special Use Sites in Floreana, San Cristóbal and Baltra. We registered 782 plants that are still alive, with a 33% of survival rate.

Representative graph of all plants planted in the SUE of Floreana, San Cristóbal and Baltra. In grey, all the planted plants. In green, the living species. Source: RestoR GV2050. Retrieving date: October 2022.

The Special Use Sites (SUE) present high soil degradation due to land use changes caused by humans. In these places, it is necessary to install water-saving technologies to help the sown plants grow. In this context, the treatment with the best results is the Waterboxx®, with a 25% survival rate at month 96 after planting. It is followed by the control treatment with a 15% probability of survival in month 95 after planting. After this, the Cocoon treatment is the next most successful, with a 10% probability of survival at month 75 after planting. Then there would be the Waterboxx® + Hydrogel treatment with a 25% survival rate at month 60 after planting. Finally, there is the Cocoon + Hydrogel treatment with a 45% probability of survival at month 48 after planting.

Representative graph of the survival percentage according to the different water-saving technologies. Source: RestoR GV2050. Retrieving date: October 2022.

The following graph shows the predicted survival probability for the sowed plants in this project. The treatment that was expected to have the highest survival rate would be Cocoon + Hydrogel; however, the Groasis Waterboxx® treatment showed a similar survival rate and a lower error bar, so the latter would be the one with the greatest success. Comparing these data with the already mentioned results (previous graph), both treatments match as Waterboxx® is the one with the highest survival probability, while Cocoon + Hydrogel has the lowest survival rate. According to predictions, it is followed by the Waterboxx® + Hydrogel treatment, with approximately 60% of survival expectation. After this, there are the Cocoon and Hydrogel treatments with a similar expected survival rate; however, as in the first case, Cocoon presents a smaller error bar than Hydrogel, and it is interpreted that it would display a higher rate of survival, leaving Hydrogel as the least successful treatment. Finally, control was the least effective treatment, with approximately 25% of survival predictions.

Representative graph of the expected survival percentage according to the applied water-saving technology. Source: RestoR GV2050. Retrieve date: November 2022.

Do you want to know more about SUS restoration project?

2050 is being built today: Ecological Restoration of Baltra by Galapagos Verde 2050

Ecological restoration at Special Use Sites

You can download more information from some of our publications

Download the book "Galapagos Verde 2050 (Volume 1)."

Download triptych leaflet about the work of the GV2050

References

Jaramillo, P. (1998). Impact ot human activities on the Native plant life in Galapagos National Park. Galápagos Report 1998-1999, 2–8.

Jaramillo, P., Lorenz, S., Ortiz, G., Cueva, P., Jiménez, E., Ortiz, J., Rueda, D., Freire, M., Gibbs, J. P., & Tapia, W. (2015a). Galapagos Verde 2050: An opportunity to restore degraded ecosystems and promote sustainable agriculture in the Archipelago. Galapagos Report 2013-2014. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration: GNPD, GCREG, CDF and GC., 133–143.

Jaramillo, P., Rueda, D., Tapia, W., & Gibbs, J. (2015b). Galapagos Verde 2050 - Technology innovation in support of ecological restoration. Paper Presented at the Sciencie, Conservation and History in the 180 Years since Darwin.

Ragazzi, M., Catellani, R., Rada, E. C., Torretta, V., & Salazar-ValenSUEla, X. (2014). Management of municipal solid waste in one of the Galapagos Islands. Sustainability, 6(12), 9080–9095. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6129080

Collaborations

Galapagos National Park Directorate (DPNG), Galapagos Conservancy, Agency for the Regulation and Control of Biosafety and Quarantine for Galapagos (ABG).