The problem with people: how more tourists and a growing population are taking their toll on the Galápagos islands

A line of iguanas soaking up the sun on a step in the middle of the tourist area of Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island. Photograph: Kimberley Brown

In the humid Galápagos highlands, surrounded by tall scalesia trees, biologist Carolina Proaño has her head to the ground, checking nests for signs of new eggs or recent visits. She has long been trying to save the Galápagos petrel, a critically endangered black and white seabird known for making its nest in the ground and returning to the same spot every year during mating season.

On her family farm on the island of Santa Cruz, Proaño has marked out a safe area for the petrels’ nests and tries to attract them by playing a recording of their calls on a loudspeaker. She then monitors the area using camera traps.