Following the conservation debt swap achieved by Ecuador, the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the Galapagos Life Fund was held to define the structure of this non-profit fund that promotes the maintenance and security of the natural capital of the islands and their marine ecosystems.

The Minister of the Environment, José Dávalos, indicated that this first meeting, held on Friday, May 26 in Santa Cruz, will define “the operational aspects of this alliance, which promotes the maintenance and conservation of the Galapagos through the means of debt exchange, obtained at the beginning of this month”.

About $400 million will be allocated to this fund for conservation and sustainable fishing issues. “This is a historic result of negotiations between the environmental protection sector and the fishing sector of the whole country and with this we continue to position Ecuador as the center of sustainable fishing in the world, more resources, more development,” said the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Julio José Prado, who also participates in the meeting.

The government announces a debt swap for the preservation of the Galapagos Islands, which would save Ecuador more than 1,100 million dollars

On May 9, the government announced this exchange of approximately $1,630 million for new debt of $656 million. This operation implies the saving of more than 1,100 million dollars of the national debt that Ecuador maintains and the allocation in the next 18 and a half years of about 450 million dollars for conservation in the Galapagos Islands.

The Galapagos Life Fund will manage resources intended to meet the environmental and sustainability obligations set out in the nature conservation debt swap achieved by the country, the environment portfolio reported.

Foreign Minister Gustavo Manrique also participates in this meeting together with Minister Prado; Deputy Minister of Defense Rafael Poveda; President of the Governing Council of the Galapagos Special Regime Astrid Calderón and representatives of international financial organizations. The Minister of Environmental Protection chaired the meeting and noted that it was a privilege that the committee was made up of ministries that led what is considered a historic milestone: the largest debt swap for conservation in humanity, but also academia, fisheries and citizenship, to promote conservation, education and development Galapagos.

The event will last until this Saturday, May 27, to approve the first resolutions for the work of the Galapagos Life Fund in favor of protecting the Galapagos Marine Reserve and the new Brotherhood Marine Reserve, which together have 198,000 km2, according to the Foreign Ministry.