Strike on the Galapagos Islands Causes Ecuador Megabuck Losses

Forest caretakers on the Galapagos Islands have been walking the picket lines for the past two weeks and have caused $6 million in losses for the Ecuadorian government up to now, said Roque Sevilla, president of the Tourism Chamber in the province of Pichincha.

Mr. Sevilla, who´s linked to several environmental groups, said tour operators have been hit harder than any other sector by the third strike staged by forest caretakers this year.

"Some 200 tourists that visit Santa Cruz everyday are frustrated and disappointed by the fact that they cannot visit the Galapagos National Park and the facilities of the Charles Darwin Foundation, the institution that watches the breeding of giant turtles and iguanas on the island," Mr. Sevilla explained.

Official stats have it that as many as 70,000 visitors travel year in and year out to the Galapagos Islands -lying some 600 miles off the Ecuadorian coasts- and leave $160 million worth of revenues for the country.

The islands, blessed with an ecosystem in which unique world flora and wildlife species bloom and grow, were declared Natural Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO twenty five years ago.