i was given the opportunity to travel on board the national geographic endeavour ii with lindblad expeditions when i won planet forward’s storyfest prize in 2020. and as the date of the voyage grew closer (delayed somewhat due to covid), i began to research potential topics that i could report on while in the archipelago. one area of interest that struck me was understanding how conservation efforts in the galápagos empowered local populations.

in school, many of us learn how the geographic isolation of these islands lead to its incredible array of endemic species. we learn about darwin’s great voyage, about his theory of evolution that shaped modern day science. but what many of us don’t learn about is that four of these islands are not only home to finches and frigates, but also populated by humans—about 30,000 individuals in fact.

navigating the fine line between environmental protection and human development is by no means easy. life as a galápaganian is especially restrictive coming from a western point of view; buying a new car—or even driving a personal car in the galápagos—for example, is virtually impossible. since 97% of the islands are protected and restricted, except for those visiting through a tourism agency, many locals don’t get to experience the isolated wilderness that foreigners see upon visiting. in fact, if locals wish to the remaining 97% of the islands — the protected and uninhabited islands — they must also go through a tourism agency. in the galapagos, one cannot visit national park territory without being part of a licensed tourism operation with a licensed naturalist. experiences like these, like on a cruise, cost a minimum of thousands of dollars, preventing so many locals from ever having this opportunity.

bolstering local communities and empowering the next generation are imperatives for long-term sustainable conservation. if people who live in the galápagos are not provided adequate opportunities to visit, explore, and learn about the importance of the islands, there is far less of an incentive to love, and thus conserve them.

i was pleased to learn that as part of their mission to use the power of travel for positive change, lindblad expeditions has raised more than $19 million for conservation, scientific research, and local communities. lindblad is also a 100% carbon neutral company. in the galápagos specifically, from 2019 to 2020 lindblad funded grants for four different conservation organizations, focusing specifically on education, research, technology, and storytelling.

additionally, since 1999 lindblad has participated in a galápagos national park program called explora galápagos, in which tourism companies partner with the program to bring local teachers, farmers, students, and other community members out to explore their home islands’ wild and remote sites. the program’s goal is simple: to educate about the unique archipelago and all it beholds, and to inspire stewardship of the islands.

i was curious to learn about exactly how participating in a lindblad expedition reflects onto local populations, and exactly what areas of conservation are a priority.

on board the 96-guest equipped national geographic endeavour ii, i met adrián vasquez, who works as a video chronicler, documenting our expedition. adrián grew up on the island of san cristobal, and previously worked as a ministerial communications and video production advisor for the government council of galápagos, which focuses on improving social problems in the archipelago. 

“lindblad in the past had only international video chroniclers, but now they only have local video chroniclers. that is very important,” adrián said. “it shows that the local people are very important for the islands.”

in december 2020, lindblad in conjunction with island conservation, an international nonprofit conservation organization, launched the galapagos island relief fund, a program providing financial relief for galápaganians impacted by the pandemic. sven lindblad, the founder and ceo of lindblad expeditions, explained when the program was announced, “stimulating the local economy through community micro-loans has the power to activate a thriving system—helping entrepreneurs and small business owners develop new ideas to complement sustainable tourism and meeting the needs of the local community long after the pandemic is over.”

i am emboldened by the mission of lindblad expeditions, after seeing firsthand the commitment of their team to work toward ecofriendly tourism solutions, rather simply aiming for profit, like many other enterprises. and i’m hopeful that the next generation of naturalists, photographers, and educators have been inspired by their experience among the wilds of galápagos as much as i was.

when the covid-19 pandemic ripped through the u.s. in late march and the nation settled into a springtime quarantine, many hoped by summer or early fall, everything from business operations to schools, and universities to restaurants would return to normal. 

but we all know that’s not what happened. 

“there is really no area of our operations that covid-19 hasn’t impacted,” said jill groednek, assistant market manager of the dane county farmers market in wisconsin. 

the dane county farmers market primarily serves the area surrounding madison, wisconsin. its downtown market, which runs outdoors around the state capitol from june to late fall, attracts thousands every week. because of its high traffic, groednek said wisconsin revoked their outdoor permit for the downtown market at the beginning of the pandemic, forcing them to adapt for the sake of their growers and consumers alike. 

in march, groenek said her team quickly pivoted from an indoor market to a pandemic-safe pick-up format, which ended up being a drive-thru model. customers would place an order from their favorite vendors ahead of time, and then the vendors would place their order contact-free in their cars. 

as spring turned to summer and the dane county team fell smoothly into their drive-up rhythm, they started to expand, and soon even got permission to re-launch a more traditional — yet still socially distanced — outdoor walk-up market. 

groednek said throughout the transition, they tried to support their vendors as much as possible, which included posting vendor information on their website. 

for brad wilson, a local farmer who’s sold herb and vegetable seedlings at the dane county market for 25 years, the pandemic meant an opportunity to branch into new, online marketplaces. 

“this year, i sold plants online using a squarespace website and square for online transactions,” wilson said. “i think this season forced me into selling online and using cards for payment, which is a good thing because there is a lot of potential to develop these techniques into ways to sell more product more efficiently.”

wilson also sells at the nearby baraboo county market, which he could continue to do as it reopened with social distancing measures in place. while wilson said he didn’t make as much this summer as he might usually, it “wasn’t a bad summer.” 

for other vendors, covid meant focusing more on selling to grocery stores, rather than at a market. pam augustyn of canopy gardens — a small farm selling vegetables and herbs — said she doesn’t plan to return to the farmers market until it returns to normal operations. augustyn said they tried out the drive-up format, decided it wasn’t quite right for their operation, and chose instead to focus on their efforts selling to grocery stores. 

“we have adapted and are continuing to adapt with marketing, and we are now looking into packaging more of our items for selling at grocery stores versus the farm market,” augustyn said. “what we plant and offer next year will be based on what we have adapted this year — we have been looking at alternate ways of packing the things we grow to be more accessible for grocery stores to sell.”

like wilson, augustyn said her operation took in less money from the market this year compared to previous — as much as three times less profit than usual in her case. but they’ve also sold more at stores, so while it’s still a loss, augustyn said it’s not as bad as it could have been if they hadn’t changed their delivery methods. 

in light of their new marketing strategies, augustyn said her team is considering not returning to the farmers market at all and instead just selling their produce to stores. 

university of wisconsin extension specialist kristen krokowski, who works with the wisconsin farmers’ market association said while shifting gears to accommodate growers and consumers during the pandemic has been challenging, it’s also taught their organization new skills. 

the wisconsin farmers market association is made up of directors of farmers markets across the state. while they don’t interact directly with growers and consumers much, they provide resources to farmers market organizers, and in a pandemic like this, support farmers statewide. 

“our goal is to support the market managers and the boards and things like that, so that they can provide good markets for their communities and for their farmers,” krokowski said. 

krokowski said the dane county downtown market was the only one of their around 300 markets that didn’t return to some sort of in-person, socially distanced capacity. but she also said the pandemic could have impacted grower-consumer relationships because social distancing can make it harder for farmers and consumers to have meaningful conversations. 

at a farmers market, krokowski said, consumers can ask questions about where their food is coming from, and make a request if there’s a certain item they’d like to see, connecting communities with food systems. plus, farmers markets offer more than just food — local entertainers and small businesses use them as a starting point. 

“they’re really important social structures for communities,” krokowski said. “they’re just really important to kind of reinforce that sense of community and that connectedness.” 

if anything, krokowski said the pandemic has helped people realize how important investing in local food systems are — especially back in march, when grocery stores experienced shortages nationwide. 

“you can go into the grocery store and whole shelves are empty or (find out that) what produce you can get this week’s kind of spotty. and i think for the people who utilize the farmers market or csas or local food, there’s some reassurance there,” krokowski said. “having diversified local agriculture helps with making sure that we can have products locally.”