Humans Encounter Galápagos

Abstract

This chapter summarizes major events that occurred throughout an almost 500-year relationship between humans and Galápagos. Specific attention focuses on how the changing interests of humans in the islands contributed to ecosystemic landscape transformation up to the end of the Second World War. The chapter historically contextualizes the nature of the changes that transpired through direct human interaction with relatively recently encountered island ecosystems, and how this interconnected relationship shifted through time within the context of changing political and economic circumstances. It sequentially details alleged pre-Columbian visitation, early and later colonial human encounters, Republican-period colonization, and early twentieth century activities in the archipelago. The current human geography in Galápagos is briefly described, followed by a discussion of landscape transformation and invasive exotic organisms throughout the archipelago.