Judging by the numbers of tourists who flock to the Galapagos Islands, everyone is interested in the unique ecology and history of that remote place. Carol Ann Bassett has written an interesting account of how the islands originated and why they are unique. She also warns that the interest is changing, even destroying, the very environment that people come to see.

Bassett is a journalist and university teacher who has visited and lived briefly on the islands. The subtitle is “Pirates, Biologists, Tourists, and Creationists Battle for Darwin’s Cradle of Evolution.” All of the above are dealt with in her book.

“William Dampier was no ordinary pirate. When he wasn’t out plundering towns or treasure-laden ships, this long-haired opportunist from England was writing in his journal or sketching, with remarkable accuracy, the strange life-forms he encountered on his journeys.” (That rather makes you want to read the book about him, recorded in the bibliography, doesn’t it?)

A chapter is devoted to Darwin, giving his background and the reasons that he was in the Galapagos. There is nothing new here, but since his work exposed that world, though it was two decades before he published his theories, his visit there needs to be part of this book.

Collectors were an early threat to the wildlife. One came back in 1906 with 266 Galapagos tortoises, most of them dead, plus 8,000 birds, 1,000 invertebrate fossils, 13,000 insects, 10,000 plants, 800 clutches of eggs, and nearly 4,000 reptiles. In 1932 Ecuador enacted laws to protect the islands, and later the entire archipelago was declared a national park. The Charles Darwin Foundation was organized to advise the new park and oversee the research station there. Cargo ships still visited, and people came to live on the islands, and the toll on wildlife was devastating.

“Today, the growing demands of tourism have transformed the town of Puerto Ayora into what many describe as ‘Disneylandia.’” Commercial development has soared to support tourism; the number of visitors could have reached 200,000 in 2009. Government instability on the mainland weakens attempts to control outside influences. “The Galapagos have no indigenous roots; most colonists are newcomers with little sense of identity.”

Tour companies often have activities that are illegal, invasive species like goats threaten the survival of native species, and hunters poach endangered species. Bassett’s account is absorbing and convincing, though she does repeat herself too often. Her focus is on the role that people play in determining the fate of the Galapagos, which she considers the “last paradise.”

Galapagos at the Crossroads is available at the Mary Willis Library.