Graham Watkins' appointment could ease tensions for researchers at the Charles Darwin Foundation. Credit: IWOKRAMA

Ecologist Graham Watkins has been named executive director of the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), the scientific authority in the Galapagos archipelago. Observers hope he will bring some much-needed stability to the islands' conservation effort.

The past decade has been difficult for scientists in the Galapagos, as pressures on its natural resources have become intense. Oil spills, hunting and fishing have all taken their toll — and researchers say that fishermen, frustrated by quotas, have made death threats against them, seized research buildings and forced some facilities to close (see Nature 408, 761; 2000 10.1038/35048739). Despite this, the cluster of islands off the coast of Ecuador remain of intense interest to researchers studying evolution, as they have done since Charles Darwin's visit on the Beagle 170 years ago.

The situation has not been helped by problems within the foundation in recent years. “There was a general loss of confidence in its leadership,” says Nigel Sitwell, chairman of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, the UK-based charity that raises money for conservation in the islands. The board of directors was completely remodelled in January 2004, he says, and the foundation has been held together by an acting director since then. “Strong leadership and fresh ideas should help to ease the current tensions,” says Sitwell.

Watkins was due to take up office in the Charles Darwin Research Station on 1 February, returning to the islands where he was a tourist guide in the 1980s. “The islands have left an indelible mark in my mind,” he says. Watkins comes from a two-year post as director-general of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development in central Guyana.

Part of Watkins' remit will be to secure more money for Galapagos conservation. But the first major challenge, he says, will be to strengthen the dialogue between the CDF and the Galapagos National Park Service, fishermen, naturalist guides and the tourism industry. In particular, the partnership between the CDF and its sister body, the national park service, is crucial, he says.

But the national park service has troubles of its own. Since 2002, leadership of the park service, appointed by the Ecuadorean government, has changed hands about eight times. Last September, wardens went on strike to protest against the latest incumbent, Fausto Cepeda, saying that he had ties with the fishing industry. The park service is still awaiting the outcome of an independent selection process to find a new director.

Sitwell says that Watkins' appointment to run the CDF is a step in the right direction. “The Galapagos is one of the most important protected areas in the world,” says Watkins. “Its conservation and effective management are critical not only to its own future but as a model for other protected areas.”