Galapagos Island turning to National Park

On July 16th, 1959 government officials from Ecuador made the decision to turn the Galapagos Islands, located within the Pacific Ocean, into a national park. The Galapagos Islands were a province of Ecuador before becoming Galapagos National Park (Parque Nacional Galàpagos) in 1959. The National Park did not fully go into operation up until 1968. It is made up of 6 smaller islands, 13 larger major islands, as well as rocks and islets. Resulting in a full wide wildlife sanctuary across all the islands that made up the Galapagos since only a partial area of the Galapagos island had been dedicated to a wildlife sanctuary in 1935. 

Galapagos Islands eventually was later assigned to be a World Heritage site for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1978. As a way to preserve, protect the waters and Islands as well as to be able to provide countries such as Ecuador to have more resources be dedicated to them. Galapagos Islands turning into a National Park in 1959 showed that the government was taking steps in what they saw was important and something valuable to protect the waters and animals.

Work Cited

“Galapagos Islands a Park.” New York Times (1923-Current File), Jul 17, 1959, https://wooster.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/galapagos-islands-park/docview/114757648/se-2?accountid=15131 (accessed April 22, 2021).

“Galapagos Islands | Location, Animals, & Facts.” n.d. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April 22, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/place/Galapagos-Islands.