Viable Ecologies - Conservation and Coexistence on the Galapagos Islands

How humans living amid an abundance of diverse flora and fauna help us rethink conservation

Famous for their geographic isolation and high proportion of endemic species, the Gal-gos Islands have long been promoted as the premier destination for tourists and scientists seeking to escape humanity''s impact on the world. This idyllic vision dominates the islands'' conservation policy, which, despite calls for a more integrated human-environment approach, continues to emphasize restoration. It ignores the people who call the Gal-gos home, who must instead partner with their plant and animal neighbors to secure a thriving future for all.

Drawing on years of fieldwork, Paolo Bocci''s Viable Ecologies brings attention to the farmers and other marginalized locals who enact their own ways of caring for, and living on, the islands. Through extended observation and experimentation, they craft conservation strategies based on mutual dependence and long-term acco