The preservation
Overfishing: First it should be stated that fishing is forbidden in the national park. However, it goes on as long as all involved parties profit from it. The ecuadorian fishing boat San Mateo was cought by the foreign volonteering boat Sirenian, in the park.The Captain of Sirenian was a Galapagos National Park employee. Suddenly an order came from the second highest commander in Ecuador, Amiral Vega, that the boat should be released without further explanation. It should be noted that the owner of the fishing boat and Amiral Vega know each other. The second boat caught fishing in the national park was Dilsun, having 1500 sharkfins and 300 sharks onboard. Also Dilsun was released without reprisals. The Captain at the patrolling boat Sirenian was offered US$15000 for sabotage of his boat. The Charles Darwin research station had all their computer equipment demolished after stating that thay will take actions against the fishing in the national park. Meanwhile, the fishing continues. Harpoon fishing is commonplace, although also forbidden. See a more comprehensive report here.
Introduced animals: Introduced animals pose a big threat, probably the biggest threat of all, to the Galapagos National Park. It is not impossible to eradicate pigs, goats, horses, cows and donkeys on non-forrested islands of small to medium sizes. However, huge amounts of money donated by international funds for conservation is flowing into Ecuador for eradicating the introduced species. If they are eradicated, obviously, no more money will be donated for this purpose. This is probably reason why nothing happens. The animals continue to graze on endemic plants, compete for food with existing ingenuous animals and destroy the by law protected areas. And most tourists are in fact happy to see sealions, boobies and the turtoises in captivity at Charles Darwin Research Station. So why bother? Why care for a small and insignificant plant? Can it contribute to the overall impression of this once-in-a-lifetime-visit?
