Postcard from the Galapagos

If you cherish the environment don’t go to the Galápagos, that’s the message of TIME’s most recent Postcard. In 2008, an estimated 175,000 people visited the islands 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, a tenfold increase from 1980, and the permanent population has doubled to 30,000 since 2000. The human influx has brought invasive plant species and larvae that ravage the Galápagos’ ecosystem. Fisherman, meanwhile, have all but wiped out the Galápagos sea cucumbers.

Now, two hotels are springing up on the Galápagos. One reportedly poured concrete into flamingo nesting sites while laying its foundation. The other intercedes a crossing for marine iguanas, and has the audacity to call itself Iguana Crossing. Both are in violation of Ecuador’s environmental codes, according to the government.

Bearing witness to “the most pristine natural habitat on earth” or some such excuse is nothing more than thinly veiled self-interest made by professors and other liberal do-gooders. The Galápagos are being degraded thanks to them (and anthropogenic climate change).

So unless you are a Ph.D-toting environmental scientist conducting actual research, you should stay away from the 3% of Galápagos territory where visitors are permitted. Eco-tourism only contributes to the problem.