Santa Cruz  ·  Galápagos  ·  Ecuador

Restoring What
the Islands Were

Restaurando lo que fueron las Islas

A nonprofit institute dedicated to the removal of invasive species and the restoration of native ecosystems in the Galápagos Archipelago.

Learn About Our Work ↓
Our Approach  ·  Nuestro Enfoque
01

Remove

We identify and manually extract invasive plant species from Galápagos highland ecosystems, targeting the species that do the greatest damage to endemic flora and native wildlife corridors.

02

Restore

Every kilogram of invasive biomass removed opens space for native seedlings. We track restoration progress and monitor re-colonization by endemic species across each treated site.

03

Bioconvert

Invasive biomass is not waste. We convert it into organic food for local communities and animal feed, returning measurable value to the archipelago while eliminating the source material of re-invasion.

The Problem  ·  El Problema

A Silent Emergency

The Galápagos Islands are among the most ecologically unique places on Earth — and among the most ecologically vulnerable. While the marine reserve attracts global attention, the highlands of Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, and Isabela face a less visible but equally urgent crisis: the systematic displacement of native ecosystems by invasive plant species.

Rubus niveus — the hill blackberry — has spread across more than 30,000 hectares of Galápagos highland terrain. It forms dense, impenetrable thickets that displace the endemic Scalesia trees — sole remnants of a daisy family that evolved into a forest in complete isolation, now confined to a fraction of their historical range. Endemic species evolved over millennia at nature's pace; they have no defense against an invader that spreads with relentless, indifferent aggression. When Scalesia disappears, the cloud forest collapses: endemic land birds lose their nesting structure, giant tortoises lose their ancient migration corridors, and soil conditions shift to favor continued invasion.

Introduced guava (Psidium guajava), quinine tree (Cinchona pubescens), and Lantana camara compound the damage. Over 870 introduced plant species have been recorded in the Galápagos. Against them stand fewer than 600 native plant species — many already threatened.

This is the problem GHRI was created to address.

Our Work  ·  Nuestro Trabajo

Working in the Field

GHRI operates in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, coordinating manual removal campaigns targeting the most damaging invasive species. Our field protocols minimize soil disturbance while maximizing biomass extraction — a critical balance in an ecosystem where bare ground invites re-invasion.

Invasive Species Removal

Manual removal campaigns are conducted in targeted zones identified through field surveys and ecological mapping, in coordination with the Dirección del Parque Nacional Galápagos (Galápagos National Park Directorate, DPNG). We prioritize the most aggressive and ecologically impactful species — principally Rubus niveus, Psidium guajava, and Cinchona pubescens — and document removal area, biomass yield, and native species response at each site.

Biomass Biovalorization

Biomass removed from restoration sites undergoes biovalorization — conversion into products of measurable value to the community. In our flagship initiative, Galápagos Fungi, the woody, thorny canes of Rubus niveus are bioconverted into Pleurotus ostreatus — delicious gourmet oyster mushrooms — for the archipelago's communities. The invader becomes food. Restoration that generates local value is restoration that communities have reason to sustain.

Future Initiatives  ·  Iniciativas Futuras

Toward a Complete
Restoration Science

At the current rate of approximately 13 hectares treated per year under existing programs, addressing the 30,000 hectares already invaded by Rubus niveus alone would require more than 2,000 years. GHRI was founded on the conviction that we can — and must — do dramatically better. By deploying frontier methods that convert the invader into products of value, we create the economic momentum that makes sustained eradication not just possible, but inevitable. Our goal is the complete biovalorization of the invasive species that threaten these islands — transforming them from a liability into a resource until there is nothing left to transform.

Our current field work is a foundation. As scientific capacity and organizational resources grow, GHRI is developing three additional lines of intervention.

In Development

Biochar for Soil Restoration

Woody invasive species that cannot safely be composted will be converted to biochar through pyrolysis. Galápagos volcanic soils — naturally porous and low in organic matter — are well-suited to biochar amendment for carbon sequestration and long-term microbiome recovery. The invader becomes medicine for the soil it destroyed.

In Development

In Vitro Reforestation

The recovery of Scalesia forests cannot happen through natural succession alone in heavily invaded terrain. GHRI is developing in vitro propagation protocols for priority endemic species, applying molecular biology techniques to produce disease-free, genetically authentic stock for direct field reintroduction.

Long-Term Vision

Biomass Energy

At full scale, GHRI plans to convert residual invasive biomass into electricity through controlled combustion — powering the archipelago with the very organisms that threaten it. Every kilogram burned is a kilogram permanently eliminated.

The Galápagos currently imports nearly all of its liquid fuel by ship. Biomass energy from invasive species would reduce this dependency while creating a permanent economic incentive for eradication at scale.

Scientific Suppliers  ·  Proveedores Científicos

Technical Collaboration

GHRI works with specialized scientific suppliers whose technical expertise directly shapes our field protocols and biosafety compliance.

Sylvan Bio
Mycological Spawn Supplier

Sylvan Bio Inc. supplies the Pleurotus ostreatus strain SPX-281 selected for our bioconversion program — a sporeless cultivar chosen specifically for its biosafety profile in sensitive island ecosystems and compliance with Ecuador's phytosanitary regulatory framework.

Galápagos Habitat Restoration Institute official seal About the Institute  ·  Sobre el Instituto

Built on Science,
Rooted in the Islands

The Galápagos Habitat Restoration Institute is a nonprofit foundation (Fundación) incorporated under Ecuadorian law in Santa Cruz, Galápagos. It was established to address one of the archipelago's most persistent ecological threats through rigorous field science, applied bioconversion research, and long-term community partnership.

GHRI works in coordination with local communities, landowners, and conservation authorities. We are committed to transparency in our operations and to publishing the results of our field work and research programs.

Marcelo Chávez, M.D., Ph.D. — Executive Director, GHRI

Marcelo Chávez, M.D., Ph.D.

Executive Director  /  Director Ejecutivo

Google Scholar ↗

My family settled in Santa Cruz in the early 1980s. I spent my childhood exploring the highlands — the Scalesia cloud forests, the paths the giant tortoises follow between their nesting grounds and the lowlands, the volcanic soil that felt like it could grow anything. Those forests defined the landscape of my childhood.

I graduated as an M.D. from the Central University in Quito, then moved to Brussels, where I earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. In 2016 I joined Stanford University as a research scientist at the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology. My career has been built on precision: mass spectrometry, proteomics, signaling pathways, and the molecular mechanisms of disease.

During visits to my family in Santa Cruz, I watched the highlands change. The forests I remembered as a child were being consumed by something I could describe as an infiltrating tumor. Rubus niveus had spread across the archipelago in dense, impenetrable thickets — smothering the endemic Scalesia trees, blocking the tortoises' ancient migration corridors, and swallowing the landscape with the indifference of a malignancy.

After more than two decades building a research career on precision and evidence, I came home with a conviction that the same rigorous approach can — and should — be applied to the conservation challenges facing these islands. The stakes for me are not theoretical. My family has been part of this place for more than forty years. We are not transient visitors to this problem — we are galápagueños, and we refuse to pass it unsolved to the next generation.

GHRI is my answer.

EMBO Long-Term Fellowship Pew Latin American Fellows Award Cabeaux-Jacobs Award — Belgian American Educational Foundation
Contact & Inquiries  ·  Contacto

Work With Us

GHRI welcomes communication from grant-making organizations, conservation researchers, academic institutions, and community partners. For research collaboration, funding opportunities, and institutional inquiries: