All development has an environmental impact that must be measured and controlled. Roads are no exception. On Santa Cruz, it is estimated that around 9,000 native and endemic birds die each year on the few roads of the island, or about 750 a month, 173 a week or almost 25 a day.

Roads are essential for socioeconomic development. However, they have negative impacts on natural habitats, such as: habitat fragmentation, which produces the barrier effect on populations, dividing them and eventually even extinguishing subpopulations; the "edge effect", which includes changes in temperature, humidity, radiation, and wind that enter the ecosystem up to a depth of 50 m, resulting in a change in distribution and abundance of birds; and species being run over by vehicles, which is the most direct and easy to recognize impact, vehicle frequency and speed being that which affects the population numbers and animal behavior.

In the Galapagos, 177 species of birds have been registered (FCD, 2008), of which 56 are endemic and native. Of this group, 13 are on the red list (IUCN, 2007) because of their low population numbers (two endemic species with less than 150 individuals) and problems arising from human behavior. 

	It is estimated that in total, some 12,500 birds are killed annually on roads in the Galapagos.

Rural roads in the Galapagos

The "El Progreso" - "Galapaguera" road is considered within the Galapagos National Park Management Plan as a Special Public Use Site Network, in other words, they are areas delineated within the Galapagos National Park that have been considerably altered, which have absorbed the current urban growth and currently support facilities and services for public benefit or community support.

The allocation of this area for special services is performed based on loan agreements for use of land, without it becoming a real right of any kind, and fully justified.

Control strategy and mortality of endemic and native birds

The presence of mortality in native and endemic birds on the "El Progreso" - "Galapaguera" road all this time, means that an impact on the behavior of the birds that live along the road has already occurred, and a hasty plan of action could bring negative results. Given this, a careful analysis of the current situation and a planned strategy for the management of these species is the most viable option to minimize the impact on the birds.

Following the precautionary principle, and because of the unique features of the Islands and their endemic and native species, it is necessary to immediately take control and prevention measures for drivers and vehicles traveling along this route.

There are several things that can be implemented in the long term to somehow diminish the increase in bird mortality on the road, but these must be coordinated jointly with other institutions.

This program has counted on the support of:

The Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands (CDF) is an international nonprofit research organization dedicated to providing scientific research, technical assistance and information in order to ensure the success of conservation in Galapagos.