Galapagos National Park

The natural beauty of the islands, the diversity and uniqueness of the species they are home to, their volcanic origin, their geological dynamics with permanent changes and variety of formations are considered a living laboratory of evolutionary processes still in progress. Together with the fact that they have been used for the development of a large number of animal and plant species that do not exist anywhere else in the world, make Galapagos a unique site of global importance for the common heritage of the Galapagos Islands.

In Galapagos, only 5 islands have any type of human settlement, which are generally the largest in the archipelago and have natural resources to support the life and development of the communities they host.

The 330 islands, islets and rocks have been divided into:
Absolute Protection Zone, which refers to pristine or near pristine areas, free of known human impacts.
Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration Zone are areas that show a certain degree of alteration with or without the presence of introduced organisms or human impacts.
Impact Reduction Zone: These are the peripheral areas of the national park with an important degree of alteration, located in the zones adjacent to the urban or agricultural areas.