Project brief identifiers
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ANNEX A: INCREMENTAL COST ANALYSIS
1.1 Ecuador has made significant strides towards protecting its rich biological diversity. The national government is currently framing a National Biodiversity Strategy, as required by the CDB, which it ratified in 1993, and is in the process of approving a Special Law for Biodiversity and Sustainable Forestry. National polices place a high emphasis on in situ conservation— particularly in areas of high species endemism and scientific value. The Galapagos islands fall within these priority categories and have long been the focus of national conservation efforts, as demonstrated by the creation of the Galapagos National Park in 1959. Ecuador’s Constitution affords the Galapagos with a special status and provides for a special administrative regime which restricts the right to immigrate, own land, and trade to safeguard the Islands’ ecological integrity. Formalised in March 1998 through the “Special Law for the Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Province of Galapagos” (SLG), the regime provides the sustainable development framework for this project.
2.1. The Galapagos Islands occupy an outstanding place in the global conservation stakes due to their exceptional flora and fauna and status as a living-laboratory for the study of evolutionary processes. Extensive conservation efforts have largely protected the Islands, and over 95% of the original species composition remains. However, a dramatic increase in colonisation by exotic species over the last twenty years is gradually diminishing the isolation that was responsible for the evolution of such a unique biological heritage. Although Ecuador has made the control of these invasive species a priority, the permanent and complex nature of this threat demands a control system well beyond that which can be provided by the human, technical and financial resources available in the country. The proposed project would provide the support that Ecuador needs to design a control system, and set-up institutional and financial mechanisms for its implementation. Without this support, control measures will be maintained at sub-optimal levels. With the recent passage of the SLG, there is now a unique opportunity to establish an invasive species control system to confront current, emergent and future threats to biota from bio-invasion while impacts are still largely reversible and magnitude of cost relatively low.
3.1. A summary of the threats to the biodiversity of the Galapagos is provided in Annex 6. The introduction, dispersal and propagation of alien species coinstutes the most acute threat. The current invasive species control system is insufficient to effectively address this problem due to several factors, outlined in the main text. A number of baseline interventions would occur in a business as usual scenario that will address this threat and its determinants. These are costed over 6 years and are described below together with a summary of interventions planned to address other threats to biodiversity that are needed to execute an ecosystem approach to conservation.Prevention Measures: Until recently, the Ministry of Agriculture through its Provincial Directorate in the Galapagos, undertook cargo inspections at entry ports in order to protect the quality of livestock and agricultural products in the islands and the health of the human population. A new quarantine system, known as SICGAL, was designed (sunk costs30 of 0.5 million) to expand previous inspection measures. This was approved in May, 1999 and baseline expenditure, estimated at US$ 3.65 million, has been committed for its implementation. This comprises US$ 2.06 m from SLG park entrance fees provisions, covering partial costs of staff, equipment and training; US$ 1.24m from CDF, through a variety of donors, to cover a limited public outreach, information and conflict resolution programme on SICGAL; and US$ 0.35m from USAID for limited technical support and training to set-up the first stage of SICGAL implementation. These investments will increase protection beyond levels needed for human and agricultural well-being. However, they are not sufficient to fully contain the threat of new species introductions into the archipelago or avoid dispersal of aggressive invasives between the islands. Planning and Research for Total Control of Invasive Species. The CDF research station has for many years maintained a research programme to enhance scientific understanding of the Galapagos’ ecosystems and provide essential information needed for biodiversity management. This will contribute to, but does not focus per se on invasive species control. Furthermore, current research activities do not form part of a well-funded, long-term programme and available infrastructure and equipment is already fully committed. Baseline resources totalling US$ 8.16 million have been committed to continue the current level of conservation research. Of this sum, US$ 0.57m would be appropriated by GNPS , US$ 7.26 by CDF and US$ 0.33 by GEF through a two year medium size project for general biological monitoring. While significant, this investment is simply insufficient to generate the quality and quantity of scientific information required for setting priorities and adapting management. Control and Eradication: Over the last 20 years, CDF and GNPS have implemented a number of small-scale but successful control and eradication campaigns on small islands, targeting invasive species with low populations and using methods that had already been tested in other parts of the world. The GNPS also undertakes some IS monitoring of particularly sensitive areas in the park and some agricultural zones providing on-the-spot control of invasive species as they appear. Baseline investment to maintain this level of action amounts to US$11.75 million with US$ 6.41 m from the GNPS (SLG park entrance fee provisions and Government national budget for a percentage of the staff) and US$ 5.34m channelled through CDF from a variety of donors. This is insufficient to control most populations or overcome the unique management challenges that certain species present. Sustainable Funding Mechanisms. The CDF has two endowments totalling US$ 3 million (Darwin Scientific Foundation with assets of US$ 2.5 million and a small Luxembourg-based foundation) that provides approximately 4% of the annual budgetary resources of the CDF. The CDF relies heavily on soft income (project-specific, short-term funding), limiting the stability of the long-term research programs required to develop control options. The GNPS has a guaranteed income from SGL provisions and national budget resources that covers the majority of the operations and maintenance costs of its present level of IS control. This does not cover operational costs of control campaigns throughout the archipelago. There would be no funding in the baseline scenario for quick-delivery emergency control operations or to encourage the participation of a broader range of local institutions and organisations in control efforts. Expenditure is costed at US$ 3.0 million from CDF (that corresponds to the seed capitalisation of the DSF). |