MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trust fund no loss of sovereignty over Galapagos Islands, Ecuadorian gov't argues

The constitution of the fund is devised so that the resources are allocated solely to conservation and sustainable fisheries

Ecuadorian authorities Saturday denied that a recent debt swap through the creation of the Galapagos Life Fund (GLF) trust entailed the loss of sovereignty over the Galapagos Islands as a newspaper claimed.

“Ecuador has not ceded any type of sovereignty control over the Galapagos Islands,” said the Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency of Ecuador in a statement.

The Government explained that the board of directors of the Galapagos Life Fund has eleven members, of which eight are Ecuadorians and three are foreigners, with funds coming from foundations and “in no way implies the use of public funds.”

The Ecuadorian members include eight government representatives from ministries and the Galapagos Governing Council, as well as the Artisanal Fishermen's Association, academia, with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) as its representative, and the Galapagos Chamber of Tourism.

The document stressed that the constitution of the fund aims to shield it from political influences and ensure that the resources are allocated solely to conservation and sustainable fisheries.

“The sovereignty of the Ecuadorian State is guaranteed both in the formation of the fund and in its operation since no foreign power or interest will be above Ecuador's environmental principles and priorities,” the statement added.

On May 9, the Ecuadorian government announced “the largest debt-for-conservation swap in history”, and assured that the operation also represented an opportunity for the international community to join in the protection of ocean biodiversity.

In the debt swap operation, with the participation of the government, financial institutions, development banks, and nature protection organizations, Ecuador converted US$ 1.628 billion of existing commercial debt into a new loan of US$ 656 million. This loan was issued by Credit Suisse, has a US$ 85 million guarantee from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and a US$ 656 million political risk insurance provided by the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

The Galapagos archipelago is located some 1,000 kilometers west of the Ecuadorian mainland and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.