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Annan, who spent the weekend engaged in private activities on the remote islands, was interviewed for a short film on the island's unique ecosystem that will be broadcast around the world, UN coordinator Mauricio Valdes said.
Annan saw giant tortoises -- said to live for more than 100 years -- and was named the godfather of a baby turtle. He also went kayaking, and spoke with local UN workers on plans to protect the islands.
"Here, amidst the giant tortoises and sea lions, the marine iguanas and Darwin's finches, one cannot help but contemplate ones own place in the natural world -- and in particular one's responsibility to conserve it for future generations, Annan said in a statement.
"These Galapagos Islands are a place of extraordinary richness," he said. "But all is not well with the global environment."
Biodiversity is under severe threat, and if action is not taken "climate change will bring havoc, even within our lifetime," he said.
"Toxic chemicals continue to poison the air and water. Deserts advance across our lands. Our seas are increasingly overfished -- and subject to calamities such as oil spills, like the one that happened two years ago right here in the Galapagos."
The United Nations is "trying to help the world move from an unsustainable present to a sustainable future," he said.
"We already have the science and the green technologies to begin the job. We know what policies are needed to strike the right balance between economic growth, social development and environmental protection," he added.
The United Nations declared the Galapagos a World Heritage Site 25 years ago.
The archipielago is located 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of the Ecuadoran coastline.
Annan is on a tour of Latin America. He was in Chile on Thursday, and arrived in Ecuador late Friday. After visiting the Ecuadoran capital of Quito he will visit Peru, and later be in Bolivia for the annual summit of Ibero-American leaders.
Late Sunday Annan flew to Quito, where on Monday he will meet President Lucio Gutierrez.
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