Alliance Sorosis Club ends year with Galapagos Island talk
Alliance Sorosis Club concluded its 2022-23 year with its annual guest luncheon at Alliance Elks Lodge.
Sorosis Club, founded in 1868 in New York City, was the first professional women’s club in the United States. It represents the women’s club movement of 19th century America that was not church affiliated. It was established with the purpose of “social, civic, and cultural betterment.”
Alliance Sorosis Club was established in 1894. Over the years, members have shared, according to a selected theme, inspiring stories about people, places, achievements and struggles. This year’s monthly programs followed the theme of “UNESCO World Heritage Sites.”
This year’s speaker was Leonard Epp, professor emeritus at University of Mount Union, who spoke on the Galapagos Islands.
The islands are a province of Ecuador and are located about 600 miles west of the Ecuadorian coast, straddling the Equator in the Pacific Ocean. They include 127 islands, with only 19 of significant size. Only four are inhabited.
Epp told of the islands’ history to include its discovery in 1535 by Panamanian Bishop Fray Tomas de Belange when his ship blew off course. He mentioned how the islands were used in early years, and Charles Darwin’s visit and how his studies were instrumental in the formation of his theory of natural selection.
In 2007, UNESCO declared the Galapagos to be a world heritage site in danger. Invasive species which compete with native animals for the limited niches on the islands have always been a problem. Also, significantly, the number of tourists – 18,000 in 1980 compared to more than 275,000 in 2019 – has meant significant pressure for housing and living requirements for a needed local population increase, transportation requirements both on and to and from the islands and all the building and infrastructure such things require.
Additional problems an increased population brings are pollution, waste disposal, destruction of habitat and physical interruption of the plants and animals of the Galapagos. The Ecuadorian government and the various scientific agencies on the islands and worldwide are addressing these concerns as best as they are able.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Alliance Sorosis Club ends year with Galapagos Island talk
