The New York Times published an article on land based tourism today.  It gives a perfunctory overview of the issues around the absence of any caps on growth (20% increase in land based tourism between 2017 and 2018) but does not even mention the link between people and the introduction of harmful non-native species (e.g. "alien" species, like rats, weeds, diseases, insects). 

Alien species are the most serious threat to Galapagos wildlife.  The hard-to-shake link between the movement of people and goods between Galapagos and the continent, and the arrival and dispersal of alien species is at the root of just about all concerns over the long term health of unique Galapagos animals and plants. 

I found the article more of a story telling exercise as opposed to hard journalism.  It provides a few haphazard snapshots of what land-based tourism looks like, bringing in a few people to give it the human interest side of things.    

If you're keen on a more technical discussion, see the previous news item on the CNH Tours website here.  It was published 2 days ago and has more recent numbers than those you'll find in the NYT article.

To see the NYT article, click here.