Amidst the Christmas celebrations, it is easy to forget the impact the festivities can have on the environment. Check out the ways we can all have a less wasteful festive period!

A new study published in the journal Environmental Pollution has found that giant tortoises on Santa Cruz island are ingesting items including medical face masks, glass and plastic bags.

Plastic pollution threatens more than 40 species in the Galapagos Islands due to the risk of ingestion or entanglement, and there is now an urgent need to embrace circular economy approaches and reduce plastic waste at source.

Every year, approximately 300 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, half of which are single-use items. An alarming proportion of this plastic ends up infiltrating our natural environment.

At the second round of negotiations in Paris, we spoke with Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Ecuador's current Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and one of the elected Chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee.

We asked Dr Joanna Alfaro, Director of Pro Delphinus, a few questions about the impacts of plastic pollution that she's witnessed on wildlife, including waved albatross.

We asked marine biologist Alice Skehel about the threats that she’s witnessed to waved albatrosses during her research expeditions to Española island.

Earlier this month, GCT attended the second round of negotiations for a global agreement to end plastic pollution at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

In the clifftop city of Lima, Peru, more than 60 people came together to workshop how to accelerate our impact to reduce plastic pollution.

In our spring webinar we discussed the threats to marine life in Galapagos, showing how research supported by GCT is deepening our understanding of the connections between the Galapagos Marine Reserve and the wider Eastern Tropical Pacific.

Drone-based mapping has the potential to greatly enhance the capacity of the Galapagos National Park to clean up plastic pollution and protect wildlife.

As we celebrate 25 years of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, GCT's Dr Jen Jones reflects on her experiences as part of a multi-disciplinary expedition led by the legendary Dr Sylvia Earle.