The disorderly demographic growth, the State's need for economic resources to maintain socioeconomic dynamics, the motivation of tourists due to the endemic biodiversity of the Galapagos and the reconfiguration of resource-intensive tourist services, have driven the growth of tourists who increasingly demand of greater goods and services, which puts the ecosystem limits and sustainability of the Galapagos at risk, which is why this study aims to generate biophysical accounting (example: energy, water, food, human activity) in the tourism sector to show the ecosystem pressure in the dynamics and growth of the tourism sector in the Galapagos Islands, providing necessary inputs for the discussion of sustainability. An innovative methodology will be used based on the understanding of complex systems and the application of the MuSIASEM Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism end-use matrix.
The results of the research will propose biophysical indicators, relating intensive units typical of the type of tourist activity (example: energy consumption on a cruise in KWH/hour or water use in m3/hour) and scaling it to extensive units relating them to the defined background. in the methodology that will be based on the use of the time that tourists dedicate to that type of activity. This will allow us to discuss the size of the demand for resources generated by the types of tourist activity according to the weight of tourists arriving and leaving the islands, and will also allow us to have a physical and not just an economic approach to discuss the entry policy. and growth of tourists in the Galapagos in such a way that the sustainability of their ecosystems is conserved and protected.