London Calling 2023: Galapagos Genetic Barcode: a model for island economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Galapagos Islands have been key in inspiring great scientific breakthroughs in history. Today, the islands continue to be internationally recognized as a model for science and conservation; however, their  extreme reliance on tourism put the islands in dire conditions in 2020. The hard ban on travel and tourism at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic deprived locals of income and left the archipelago’s vulnerable ecosystems at high risk due to the trafficking of protected species and loss of funding for conservation. We present the Galapagos Genetic Barcode, a citizen science model applied to the Galapagos Islands between 2020 and 2022 to confront this situation by providing employment in an ambitious scientific project using genetic barcoding techniques and creating economic resilience through capacity building. Ultimately, this  approach was designed to serve as a model to improve the islands’ resilience and create independence from future uncertainties in tourism and transport.