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Feb 10, 2020 - National Geographic Islander
Espanola Island has one of the most successful giant tortoise breeding programs in the Galapagos. Just a few decades ago, it was filled with invasive species such as pigs, goats, and cats which destabilized the delicate ecosystem. I hope that the success of the breeding program and restoration efforts will be the best example for future generations as they continue working on different projects in the archipelago. Today, it is such a pleasure to hike surrounded by so much wildlife, seemingly pristine, thanks to hard work and dedication.
Walter was born in a very small town on the mainland of Ecuador. His first trip to the Galápagos was when he was 12 years old, visiting friends and aunt, who had moved to the islands. From the first moment he saw the Islands, he fell in love with them and knew then where his future home would be.
Liza fell in love with the ocean as a child growing up on the Ecuadorian coast. Her passion for storytelling and photography began at the age of seven, when she began filming her friends as they recreated stories from her parents' library. Liza later combined her audiovisual passion with her love for nature by majoring in Environmental Communication and Digital Animation. She began making documentary films, animations, and photographs aimed at inspiring communities to care for their natural habitats. Liza became enchanted by the Galapagos, where she first came as a student and has continued on as a volunteer for various conservation, education and arts organizations. She is now a professional conservationist and artist dedicated to inspiring and educating in small communities around Ecuador using creative audiovisual communications.