Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(permanent residents) who, in most cases, lack professional qualifications because
of this poor education system. Local residents with sufficient financial resources
often leave Galápagos to seek better quality education elsewhere, and then find
employment off the islands. Lack of quality education and appropriate vocational
training thus results in a drain of qualified residents from Galápagos.
A renewed educational system could also contribute to a new “island culture”:
one that takes inspiration from the earliest Galápagos residents. Galápagos needs a
society that understands limits, conserves energy, water and other essential resources,
and builds a constituency for long-term sustainability. This island culture must
prevail over the “continental culture” that views Galápagos as a place of unlimited
resources and potential for seemingly endless economic expansion. The continental
culture is rooted in a colonialist mentality and a perpetual sense of impermanence;
it has imported 'fixed ideas', traditions and cultural expressions from its original
lands, and a poor identification with the special qualities of the island environment.
It promotes the kind of consumption typical of the continent, has increased demand
for importation of locally unavailable products, and has recreated continental
architecture and ways of urban life. The amazing rise of automobile transport in
the three towns of the archipelago (according to the 2009 census, there are some
2,300 motorized vehicles in the Galápagos) illustrates this continentalization of
lifestyle of the Galápagos population. An island culture, in contrast, would accept
that Galápagos is a special place where some limitations to the provision of goods
and services are necessary, and support cultural traditions developed locally (even
as they are a product of both island reality and place of origin), and a resident
mentality with a marked sense of place. Critically, island culture would promote a
system of natural resources management deeply rooted in the island environments,
as well as the creation and supply of local resources and an architecture based on
climate and the use of local materials (González et al.
2008
).
Recommendations
(a) Implement educational reform as soon as possible, possibly funded by increased
park entrance fees.
(b) Establish a vocational education unit in Galápagos. This should suit the employ-
ment market in Galápagos. The system should ensure that residents are trained,
qualified and competitive in areas such as tourism and support industries,
natural resource management and public sector planning. Such training has the
secondary benefit of reducing the number of people being brought in from the
exterior to fill skilled positions. Training should focus on adding value to local,
Galápagos products.
(c) Promote an informed culture that encourages low impact living. For example,
Galápagos temporary residents are given a compulsory induction on the limits
of living in the archipelago. Such initiatives should be expanded to whole
community.
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