Ecuador’s president announced on Nov. 1 an expansion of the existing Galápagos Islands marine reserve to encompass an additional 60,000 square kilometers (23,200 square miles). The majority of the addition would be established across the Cocos Ridge, which is an important migration route for species like hammerhead sharks and leatherback turtles. The following day, the presidents of Ecuador, Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica also announced that the four countries intended to create a large marine corridor between their four countries by extending and joining their current marine protected areas. Experts say that the new Galápagos marine reserve, in conjunction with the larger corridor, would help protect a range of migratory species. Ecuador will expand the marine reserve encircling the Galápagos Islands, President Guillermo Lasso announced on Nov. 1 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The current Galápagos Marine Reserve covers 133,000 square kilometers (51,400 square miles) around its namesake islands, and the extension will protect an additional 60,000 km2 (23,200 mi2). The majority of the addition will be established across the Cocos Ridge, an underwater mountain range on the northeastern side of the Galápagos Islands that forms an important migration highway known as the Cocos-Galápagos Swimway. In […]
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