From a special issue: A Brief History of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands 1959-198

Smith, G. T. Corley

English

Aquatic Commons

34 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS No. 49 
THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF 
THE CHARLES DARWIN FOUNDATION 1964-1988 
With the inauguration of the Charles Darwin 
Research Station on Santa Cruz Island and the 
signature of the basic agreement with the 
Government of Ecuador early in 1964, the first stage 
in the history of the Foundation was concluded. This 
coincided with the death of Victor van Straelen, the 
first President and the driving force behind the 
creation of the Foundation. He was succeeded by 
Jean Dorst, who, because of his professional 
commitments had been anxious to retire from the 
onerous post of Secretary General but was persuaded 
to undertake the equally demanding duties of 
President. 
Jacques Laruelle served all too briefly as Secretary 
General as he was killed in a tragic accident in 1967. 
He was succeeded by Sir Thomas Barlow, a great-
grandson of Charles Darwin, who carried on until 
1972. 
The Foundation lost its Honorary President in 
1975 when Sir Julian Huxley died at the age of 87. 
He had not been involved in the daily administration 
but he had intervened decisively at critical moments 
and his seminal influence both in the 1930's and 
in the actual organisation of the CDF was of vital 
importance for the future of Galapagos conservation. 
The Council met twice a year. For the 
convenience of the majority of its members, who 
were responsible for their own travelling expenses, 
meetings were held in Europe, usually at the 
headquarters of UNESCO, a major supporter of the 
CDF in these early years, as it provided the salary 
of the Director of the Darwin Research Station. 
Owing to never-ending financial stringency, 
meetings perforce devoted almost as much time to 
fund-raising as to science and conservation. Between 
meetings, the burden of administration was shared 
between the President, the Secretary General, the 
Secretariat for the Americas and the Director of the 
CDRS. The Foundation had no office of its own 
until 1983 (the Palais des Academies in Brussels was 
merely a legal address) and the officers worked from 
their homes. In 1964 the composition of the Council 
was: 
Honorary President 
President 
Julian Huxley 
Jean Dorst 
Vice-President Luis Jaramillo 
Secretary General l. Laruelle 
Secretary for the Americas Yale Dawson 
Members: lean-G. Baer, Thomas E. Barlow, 
Cristobal Bonifaz, Fran~ois Bourliere, Harold l. 
Coolidge, K. Curry-Lindahl, I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 
lean-Paul Harroy, S. Dillon Ripley, Peter Scott, 
Randolph Taylor. 
For the next dozen years there were few changes 
in the structure of the Council, but in 1976 a new 
category of members was introduced. Under the 1964 
agreement, the Government of Ecuador had the right 
to nominate an official representative on the Council 
but had never taken advantage of this clause, 
although distinguished Ecuadoreans had served in 
their individual capacity. The Council now proposed 
to the Government that the heads of the six national 
institutions most concerned with the Galapagos 
should become members ex officio. This invitation 
was accepted and, with modifications, determined 
the composition of the Council until 1989. 
Meetings began to be held in North America and 
Ecuador as well as in Europe and a rhythm eventually 
developed by which each year one was held in 
Ecuador and one elsewhere. In 1978 the Council met 
for the first time in the Galapagos. 
In the early 1970's there were important changes 
among the principal officers. In 1972 G.T. Corley 
Smith, who had been involved in Galapagos 
conservation since 1964, took over as Secretary 
General, serving in this capacity for 10 years and 
even longer as editor of the Foundation'S journal, 
Noticias de Galapagos. In 1973 Jean Dorst retired 
after serving for IS years, first as Secretary General 
and then as President. He found that the growing 
demand on his time was incompatible with his new 
responsibilities as Director of France's National 
Museum of Natural History. His contribution to 
Galapagos conservation and science had been 
outstanding and during his period of office the 
Foundation had grown from a hopeful project to 
Noticias de Galapagos, vol. 49, English version, June 1990
~o. ~9 ~OTlCIAS DE GALAPAGOS 35 
a tlounshtng \xganizatton with an mternattonal 
reputation. In particular. the Darwin Research 
Station had grown very considerably. This had not 
been the deliberate intention of the Council; 
expansion simply became irresistible as it was realized 
how much needed to be done to preserve and restore 
the Galapagos environment. One consequence of this 
growth was that, for efficient management, it had 
become highly desirable that either the President or 
the Secretary General - or both - should have had 
experience working at the Research Station. The 
choice for Dorst's successor naturally fell on Peter 
Kramer, who had just completed his period as 
Director of the CDRS. He accepted only after some 
hesitation as he foresaw that the demands of the 
job would conflict with his prospects as a university 
teacher. His distinguished service as President 
continued until 1984 when he finally abandoned his 
academic career to become Director of Conservation 
of the WWF, in which post he was fortunately able 
to main tin his long connection with the Galapagos. 
He was succeeded by Craig MacFarland" who 
likewise had served as Director of the CDRS. 
A major change in the organization took place 
when Corley Smith retired as Secretary General. Two 
factors were responsible: one was that the volume 
of administrative business had steadily grown so that 
it had become more and more difficult to run the 
Foundation as a voluntary activity from a spare 
bedroom in a private house; the other was the 
increasing participation of Ecuadoreans in the 
management. Not only was there increasing ex officio 
representation of national institutions on the 
Executive Council but there was a separate all-
Ecuadorean committee which met regularly. The 
combination of these two factors led to the opening 
of the Foundation's fITSt office with a small salaried 
staff in Quito, where contact could more easily be 
maintained with government departments, the 
national media and the CDRS. The new Secretary 
General was Juan Black Maldonado, who had been 
one ofthe first two officers of the Galapagos National 
Park Service and subsequently the CDF's 
information officer in Quito. The work load of the 
General Secretariat was further spread by the 
creation of a new volunteer Secretariat for Europe 
in Copenhagen in addition to the long-established 
Secretariat for the Americas in Washmgton D.C. 
This was the situation at the end of 1988 when 
the CDF's original 25 year agreement with the 
Government was renewed for another 5 years while 
a revised agreement. adapted to the radically changed 
circumstances, was being negotiated and new statutes 
for the Charles Darwin Foundation were being 
drawn up. 
In 1988 the composition of the Council was: 
PATRON 
H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh 
President 
Mr. Craig MacFarland 
Vice-President (Ecuador) 
Dr. Marcelo Santos Vera 
Vice-President (Europe) 
Dr. Ole Hamann 
Secretary General 
Sr. Juan Black Maldonado 
Secretary for Europe 
Dr. Ole Hamann 
Secretaries for the Americas 
Dr. David Challinor (Administration). 
Dr. Tom Simkin (Science) 
Mrs. Marsha Sitnik (Executive Secretary) 
Ex Officio Members 
Sr. Presidente de la Republica del Ecuador. 
Sr. Vice-Presidente de la RepUblica. 
Sr. Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores. 
Sr. Ministro de Agricultura y Ganaderia. 
Sr. Ministro de Energia y Minas. 
Sr. Ministro de Finanzas. 
Sr. Comandante General de la Armada Nacional. 
Sr. Director del Instituto Geographico Militar. 
Sr. Presidente de la Casa de Cultura Ecuatoriana. 
Sr. Director Nacional de Turismo. 
Sr. Gerente del Instituto Nacional Galapagos. 
Sr. Director Ejecutivo del CONACYT. 
Members 
Mr. Robert McC. Adams. 
Prof. J. Bouillon 
Ora. Eugenia del Pino 
Prof. Jean Dorst 
Prof. L Eibl-Eibesfeldt 
Prof. Peter Grant 
Prof. J.P. Harroy 
Prince Henri of Luxembourg 
Dr. M.S. Hoogmoed 
Prof. R.D. Keynes 
Dr. Plutarco Naranjo Vargas 
Mr. S. Dillon Ripley 
Dr. Ira Rubinoff 
Sir Peter Scott 
Econ. Roque Sevilla 
Mr. G.T. Corley Smith 
Noticias de Galapagos, vol. 49, English version, June 1990


The Executive Council of the Charles Darwin Foundation 1964-1988

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The Executive Council of the Charles Darwin Foundation 1964-1988

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