This month Ecuador surprised the world by reaching the biggest debt-for-nature swap in history. Under the deal, the country will avoid more than US$1 billion in government bond interest and principal payments and use $450 million for marine conservation in the species-rich waters of its Galápagos Islands. As details of the transaction spread, so did another auspicious piece of Galápagos conservation news. It was announced in late April that a scientific expedition near the islands had found a pristine coral reef atop an unmapped seamount 400 to 600 meters (1,310 to 1,970 feet) below the ocean’s surface. Experts note that over half of the reef’s coral is alive—a high percentage at such great depths—and survived a vast coral die-off caused by a period of abnormally warm ocean temperatures four decades ago. Of the two developments, the debt-for-nature swap commanded the greatest... [Log in to read more]