Conservationists have welcomed the announcement by Ecuador that it will expand the marine reserve around the Galapagos islands by 60,000 sq km. President Guillermo Lasso announced the move at the COP 26 climate summit in Glasgow. Mr Lasso told the BBC that his government wanted to show that action rather than words was the most effective way to fight climate change. Conservationists called it “a brilliant first step”. The existing marine protection area around the Galapagos measures 133,000 sq km and was one of the first large-scale marine conservation areas to be created. It is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world. Conservationists hope that its expansion will protect the migration routes of endangered species such as the whale shark and make the reserve more resilient to climate change. Among those praising the move is Sarah Darwin, the great-great-granddaughter of biologist Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution was inspired by the biodiversity he found on the Galapagos. Sarah, a botanist and an ambassador for the Galapagos Conservation Trust, told the BBC that she was “very, very excited that President Lasso is taking the Galapagos so seriously”.(BBC)…[+]