num_pages: 368
description: Mention the Galápagos Islands to almost anyone, and the first things that spring to mind are iguanas, tortoises, volcanic beaches, and, of course, Charles Darwin. But there are people living there, too -- nearly 20,000 of them. A wild stew of nomads and grifters, dreamers and hermits, wealthy tour operators and desperately poor South American refugees, these inhabitants have brought crime, crowding, poaching, and pollution to the once-idyllic islands. In Plundering Paradise , Michael D'Orso explores the conflicts on land and at sea that now threaten to destroy this fabled "Eden of Evolution."
language: English
title: Plundering Paradise: The Hand of Man on the Galápagos Islands
titlecomplete: Plundering Paradise: The Hand of Man on the Galápagos Islands
genres: Science, Environment, Travel, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 85
places: Ecuador
publisher: Harper Perennial