Galápagos Network

The Panel of Experts

A credential is only worth what the islands say it's worth

At the heart of the Galápagos Network is a Badge — a mark of trust for the islanders doing real conservation work. What that Badge means is not decided by us, or by any algorithm. It is defined by a panel of local experts: people with decades in the islands, connected across fishermen's associations, citizen science and education collectives.

The panel writes the rubric the Badge is judged against — and from the second round onwards, Badge holders themselves help write it. Authorship widens with every cycle.

The rubric is being written in the open

What should a Galápagos credential stand for? Join the discussion and help shape it.

Join the conversation on Agora

The Model

Verify locally. Fund quadratically.

Bonfires — an AI verification system — proves people and projects against the panel's rubric and issues the Badge. Holding one unlocks matched funding.

01
The panel sets the rubric
Local experts define what the Badge means and the evidence required to earn it.
02
An applicant submits
A researcher or community conservation worker shares their profile and evidence of their work.
03
Bonfires verifies
AI agents prove the applicant's footprint and rank them against peers, scored on the rubric.
04
The Badge is issued
Applicants who meet the bar receive the Galápagos Badge.
05
Holders apply for funding
Badge holders enter a quadratic funding round backed by a sponsor's matching pool.
06
Holders shape what's next
Recipients mentor the next cohort and co-author the rubric for round two.

Why quadratic funding?

A sponsor provides a matching pool, and the pool follows the breadth of community support, not the size of any single cheque. Its one weakness — fake contributors gaming the match — is exactly what the Badge removes. Only verified people take part.

Two projects, same $1,000 raised — different match

1 donor × $1,000

small match

100 donors × $10

≈ 100× the match

The People

Built with the islands, not for them

C

Champy

Panel anchor · Galápagos

More than twenty years guiding and running expeditions across the islands. Central to the coalition behind the marine reserve's expansion.

G

Griff

Funding mechanisms

A pioneer of community-driven funding in the open-source world, bringing a decade of quadratic funding practice to the islands.

J

Joshua

Bonfires · DeSciWorld

Builder of Bonfires, the AI verification system behind the Badge — proven with DAO contributors and security researchers.

?

You

Panelist · Sponsor · Builder

The panel is forming and the first round is taking shape. If you work in the islands — or want to back those who do — there's a seat.

Get involved →

The Story

Why Galápagos, and why now

The islands

Some 30,000 people live across the Galápagos — with an unusually high density of citizen-led movements around research, conservation and education. The energy is already there.

The gap

The big NGOs optimise for headline interventions and skip the community layer: the people doing the science, running the classrooms, carrying the day-to-day stewardship. That work goes unfunded — not for lack of value, but because capital outside the islands can't see it.

The spark

Bonfires already solves this problem for digital communities, verifying who is genuine and effective among DAO contributors and security researchers. Galápagos is where we point it at the physical world.

The horizon

Recipients don't take the money and disappear — they mentor the next cohort, verify the one after, and co-author the standard itself. Each round widens the graph rather than exhausting the pool. Node zero is in the islands. The network grows from there.

Be part of round one

Whether you work in the islands, want to sponsor a matching pool, or just want to follow along — leave your email and we'll be in touch.

Sponsors and panel enquiries: joshua@desci.world

The future of conservation is local action & trusted giving.