New measures to protect Galapagos

Ecuador is to extend a fishing exclusion zone around the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific in an effort to protect their unique natural environment, which is home to many rare species of plants and animals.

The islands have become a target for big foreign fishing vessels, mainly from North America and Japan.

The decision to extend the zone to about seventy-five kilometres follows warnings from the United Nations agency, UNESCO, that Ecuador would otherwise be put on an environmental blacklist.

The Galapagos -- which are isolated from natural predators -- are particularly well-known for their birds, iguanas and tortoises; they were instrumental in helping Charles Darwin form the Theory of Evolution in the last century.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service