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Santa Rosa Campaign
Santa Rosa is a small and relatively poor community set in the highlands of Isla Santa Cruz, and has been selected by a number of local, national, and international groups (including Galapagos National Park, the Charles Darwin Foundation, the United Nations Millennium Project, FUNDAR Galapagos, and the Galapagos Provincial Government and Ministry of Tourism) to be a “test case” for sustainable development projects. Galapagos ICE supplies volunteers to aid in this international endeavor.
“Lonesome George” Mural
April 5 – May 7, 2008: David Stern-Gottfried, a muralist who has produced art for such companies as Lucas Studios, worked with local students to transform Santa Rosa’s coliseum into a semblance of Lonesome George, the famous Galapagos tortoise at the Charles Darwin Station that is the last of his species.
Drafting the Botanical Garden
February 25 – March 3, 2007: Daniel Kelly, Christopher Parris, Greg Larson-all environmental architectural students from Clemson University-worked with Angel Arias (President of Santa Rosa) and Nuria Estrealla (representative of the UN Millennium Project) to lay out plans for a new botanical garden in Santa Rosa. They hope that the new garden will attract tourists to the area, and encourage local residents to view ecological efforts as an economic draw.
English as a Second Language (ESL) Training
Spring 2007: Jill Blythe and Emma Ross taught English to Santa Rosa residents. Galapagos ICE seeks to empower local residents to take advantage of increased tourism by furthering their English language skills.
Botanical Sample Collection
September 1-26, 2007: Michal Brosh and Erik Broekhuizen worked with Ivan Aldez of the Charles Darwin Station to gather native and endemic plants for the new community center. They also gathered seedlings for the Santa Rosa Botanical Garden.
Energy-Efficient Watering & Lighting
May 6 – June 6, 2008: Max Reid and Jeremy Gredkiewicz of Engineers without Borders, worked to incorporate energy-saving devices in the watering of the Santa Rosa Botanical Garden, and the lighting of Santa Rosa municipality buildings and school.
Painting Santa Rosa Municipal Buildings
April 2008: Galapagos ICE coordinated an effort with Ecology Project International (EPI) for 32 volunteers — 16 students and teachers from the United States and 16 Galapagos high school students — to paint the exteriors of Santa Rosa’s municipal buildings and perform lawn and landscaping maintenance on their grounds. EPI is an educational non-profit that works through FUNDAR, a Galapagos foundation focused on conservation, to offer international and local students the opportunity to learn ecological field research techniques in the Islands. Participants are required to fulfill community service and this group generously volunteered their time to help with the Galapagos ICE Santa Rosa campaign.
Painting Main Street Houses & Coliseum Interior
July 2008: Nineteen volunteers from the coeducational Ecuadoran Scouting organization (Asociación de Scouts del Ecuador) in Quito spent 2 days painting 5 houses surrounding the main square of Santa Rosa, and touching up the town’s main office and coliseum interior. Seventeen of the volunteers were children, ages 6-17, accompanied by 2 adult leaders. Their efforts help the citizens of Santa Rosa fulfill their goals for improvement and beautification of their village, particularly to attract ecologically minded tourists.
