Thanks to their membership in the Cintana Alliance, a worldwide consortium of cutting-edge universities created by Arizona State University, Mexico and Ecuador are partnering to launch a project to help rid the Galapagos Islands of invasive plants.
The Autonomous University of Guadalajara (UAG) was chosen to represent Mexico in this partnership and the choice for Ecuador was the International University of Ecuador, or UIDE.
In 2021, these three organizations decided to cooperate on a research project on the Island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos, which were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for being “a unique paradise that amazes and inspires the world.”
That paradise, however, is huge. In fact, the entire archipelago is one of the biggest nature reserves on the planet, with19 islands plus countless islets and rocks jutting out of some 60,000 square kilometers of ocean.
Tourism is forbidden on most of the islands, which are uninhabited, but the national park’s problems begin with the few where human beings have settled.
Santa Cruz Island has the highest population with about 30,000 people and it is here that the joint research project will take place.
One of the first problems they will tackle is the Blackberry Invasion.
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