Galapagos Celebrates the anniversary of World Heritage listing

Over three hundred students from different educational institutions of primary and secondary education in the town of Puerto Ayora, along with officials of the Galapagos National Park Service, city hall and the ministry of tourism joined in a parade down the main street on Wednesday this week.

Children and young people displayed along the sidewalks and balconies displayed posters, banners, costumes, etc. to transmit a show of pride in Galapagos. The parade ended at the San Francisco Park, on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz, a place where the principal authorities of the municipality, who led the march, gave speeches in line with the celebration.

The next day, the Galapagos National Park Service ran the second Galapagos Dance Festival with the participation of the different schools.   On September 7,  1978, the World Heritage Committee of the Organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), signed the document officially recognizing the Galapagos Islands, as the first World Heritage site ever.   In 2001, the government of Ecuador submitted a proposal to have the Galapagos marine reserve also recognized under the World Heritage Banner.   After a careful analysis, the World Heritage Committee also accepted it.   Today, there are over 900 World Heritage sites around the world, including such iconic places the pyramids of Egypt, the Grand Canyon in the USA and Peru's Machu Picchu.     But Galapagos takes pride in being the first ever World Heritage site to be named.