Interview with Gianni Arismendi, local guide Islas Galapagos, Ecuador

From “A political ecology of San Cristobal Island: mapping local environmental knowledge and justice in Galapagos, Ecuador”. See full post here

Regarding environmental justice issues, we deemed it vital for the interviewee to be a guide as they have immense knowledge on both the positives and negatives of tourism. We asked a few main questions when interviewing Gianni Arismendy, with a general focus around the impact of tourism on the local community, and how the local community has dealt with some of their environmental issues.

Living in San Cristobal for ten weeks, it has become very evident that community-based monitoring systems are key to livelihoods and conservation on the island. We discussed these concepts with Gianni to better understand a locals view on the needs of San Cristobal.