The threats facing the Galapagos Archipelago of Ecuador and efforts to preserve its fragile ecosystem will be highlighted during a one-day June 4 symposium at UCLA featuring noted authorities on the region.

Sponsored by the UCLA Institute of the Environment, the event will feature presentations by Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic Magazine, who will speak about Darwin and the Galapagos; Tui De Roy, an independent conservation consultant and wildlife writer; and Capt. Paul Watson, president of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

The free symposium will run from 2 to 10 p.m. at UCLA’s Faculty Center, 480 Charles Young Dr. East. Parking is available on campus for $6 and the cost of an optional dinner is $20. Dinner reservations must be made by May 31 by phoning (310) 825-5008 or sending an e-mail to ioe@ucla.edu.

The Galapagos Islands, which inspired the writings of naturalist/scientist Charles Darwin, have become threatened in recent years because of rapid human population growth, the invasion of alien pests, confrontations between fishermen and conservation agencies, and increasing ecotourism. The UCLA symposium will outline these challenges to the insular ecosystems of the Galapagos and assess the complex issues facing an impoverished Ecuador and its oceanic world heritage.

Others speakers at the symposium will include ornithologist Cecilia Lougheed of the Charles Darwin Research Station; Carl Safina, vice president for marine conservation for the National Audubon Society; Godfrey Merlin, an independent scientist who also works with the Galapagos National Park; Dolores Diez, an ecotourism organizer from Ecuador; Professor Jerry Wellington, a coral reef expert from the University of Houston; and Peter Knights, executive director of the environmental group WildAid.

Sponsors of the event include the UCLA Institute of the Environment, the UCLA Department of Geography, the Center for Latin American Studies and the UCLA Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution.

More information about the event is available at the Web site for the UCLA Institute of the Environment at www.ioe.ucla.edu/. Dinner reservations can be made by phoning (310) 825-5008 or sending an e-mail to ioe@ucla.edu.