The president of Ecuador’s National Assembly convened the Plenary Session No. 323 for Thursday April 23, at 09:30, in order carry out the second reading the draft revised Special Law on Galápagos. 

The first special law was passed in March 1998, and set out far-reaching changes in how the islands had been managed until then.  It officially recognized that Galapagos is a unique place for which conservation and sustainable development must be a priority.  Most dramatically, the 1998 Special Law restricted the movement of people, even Ecuadorians, between the mainland and the islands – establishing a status of “resident” and “non-resident” Galapagueños.  This was in response to the rapid immigration of people from the continent to the islands, overwhelming their environmental carrying capacity (imagine the USA preventing mainlanders from moving to Hawaii!). 

A quick skim of the draft text reveals some points worth noting

• There is no mention of the "Galapagos National Park Service", but rather, the term "decentralized adminitrative unit in charge of protected areas".  This may or may not be significant - we wonder why "Galapagos National Park Service" is not referred to. 
• Maritime traffic monitoring will be carried out by the ministry of defence - the Park Service has a control room where it track via satellite, the movement of fishing vessels around the marine reserve - it can easily see when such vessels enter the reserve (they are not allowed to do so).  We are not sure if this represents a significant change - but it appears as though the park will need to depend on another agency for information on possible infractions.  This may make it harder for it to be responsive to illegal fishing in the reserve.
• Whereas the current law fixes the park entrance fee (for non-Ecuadorians) at $100 (since 1998), the new proposed law does not stipulate a fee, but gives the responsibility for doing so to the governing councile (comprised of representative from different government and Galapagos stakeholders).   It proposes that "at least 50%" ofthe park entrance fee should be assigned to the "National environmental authorit through its decentralized administrative unit in charge of protected areas" (the Park Service, we assume).   This is appears to be a modest increase from the current law, which assigns 45% to the park and marine reserve. 
• The law recommends that a new park fee will likely vary according to the following criteria:
• How long you expect to stay (there has been talk of a higher cost for very short (e.g. 3 days) visits
• What kind of tourism (ship, land)
• Age range and physical disability
• Ecuadorian vs non-Ecuadorian

CNH Tours will keep track of this draft law and report on any pertinent developments.