|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PERU:
Protecting Machu
Picchu from Too Many Tourists
Abraham
Lama*
LIMA, (Tierramérica) - The
Peruvian government has a new
conservation plan in the works
for its most important
archaeological attraction: the
Inca city of Machu Picchu, under
threat from the excessive flow
of tourists through its ruins.
But local tourism operators
oppose any effort to reduce the
number of visits to the site.
Built at the end of the 14th
century, Machu Picchu is the
most extraordinary construction
of the Inca Empire, which
extended across the territory
that today is Peru, Ecuador,
Bolivia, Chile and part of
Argentina.
During high tourist season, when
there is little rainfall, every
day some 2,500 visitors enter
the city that was recovered from
oblivion by U.S. explorer Hiram
Bingham in 1911.
Most visitors take the train to
reach Machu Picchu, situated at
the top of a mountain in the
southern Peruvian department of
Cusco. But some 400 people
arrive each day after making a
two-day trek along the ''Inca
roads'', crossing landscapes of
incredible beauty and
accompanied by 'porteadores'
(peasants who carry the
tourists' gear) -- on average
almost two porteadores per
tourist.
The impact of tourists and the
landslides on the mountainsides
have been pointed out by UNESCO
(United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organisation) as grave threats
to the site, which holds
''heritage of humanity'' status.
The unregulated passage of
thousands of tourists has left
obvious signs of erosion in the
archaeological zone, which
extends over 31,000 hectares.
Their movements along the Inca
roads mean pollution and a
threat to the region's rich
biodiversity, including an
estimated 350 varieties of
orchids and a wide range of
endangered animals, such as the
spectacled bear (Tremarctos
ornatus).
UNESCO pressed the Peruvian
authorities in 2002 to draw up a
plan to regulate Machu Picchu
visits and manage landslides in
the area.
In response, the administration
of President Alejandro Toledo,
through the National Cultural
Institute (INC) and the Natural
Resources Institute (INRENA),
prepared a master plan for the
preservation of the Machu Picchu
Historic Sanctuary, which soon
will be presented to UNESCO for
consideration.
The plan calls for coordinating
actions and budgets for the area
through 2006, and from 2006 to
2010 investments of 132.5
million dollars in projects that
include satellite monitoring of
landslides and prevention
efforts to maintain intact the
Inca city and roads.
The proposal's guidelines were
presented in December to
representatives of
municipalities, of
environmental, archaeological,
hotel, transportation, tourism
industry groups, and even
representatives of the
Porteadores Association.
''It's evident that the sectors
linked to the tourism industry
don't want to hear even one word
about reducing the volume of
visitors. We couldn't reach a
conclusion in that chaotic
assembly, which was attended by
280 people representing diverse
interests, many of them
contradictory,'' Marco Pastor,
engineer and coordinator of
INRENA's protected areas
division, told Tierramérica.
As such, Aguas Calientes, the
town which emerged from the
railway station where tourists
arrive to visit Machu Picchu, is
getting ready to fight any
attempt to reduce tourist
inflow.
María Elena Córdova, INC
management director, said the
government's master plan is not
intended to reduce the current
maximum average of tourists, but
does aim to regulate the flow of
visitors in order to at least
mitigate the negative impacts to
the site.
Public hearings on the project
are slated for May 11-12, with
the participation of
representatives from civil
society, the regional
government, municipalities, the
local peasant communities,
professionals and tourism
operators.
''Everyone must be heard, and
although we know it will be
difficult to satisfy everybody,
we must encourage the greatest
participation possible for
approving the master plan,''
Jorge Pacheco, head of the Machu
Picchu management unit, told
Tierramérica.
An increase in fees for access
to the area; the regulation of
the number of tourists to, among
other things, improve management
of the waste they leave behind;
as well as the promotion of
other Inca sites in Peru are
some of the proposals under
consideration.
INC director in Cusco, David
Ugarte Vega Centeno, suggested
increasing the admission fees
for Machu Picchu by 50 percent,
''to generate greater revenues
and partially limit the inflow
of tourists.''
Luis Antonio Mendoza and Walter
Valderrama, both members of the
Peruvian Association of
Adventure and Ecological
Tourism, think the move to
reduce the flow of visitors to
protect Machu Picchu is
inevitable, and they recommend
considering regulation
mechanisms similar to those used
for tourist destinations in the
Himalayan nation of Nepal.
''On the Inca roads now there is
a procession of people who,
without intending to or without
caring, are hurting the
ecosystem as they go,'' Mendoza
said in a Tierramérica
interview.
''In Nepal, the visitors have to
agree to an inventory of
everything they carry in to the
mountains, and make a security
deposit to cover the high fines
if they leave behind containers,
plastics or anything else in the
area they visit,'' he said.
Valderrama suggested that to
alleviate pressure on the route
to Machu Picchu, tourism
officials could promote other
Inca routes -- some longer and
more complex -- ''and therefore
more challenging, which is what
people seek in adventure
tourism.''
(* Abraham Lama is a
Tierramérica contributor.
Originally published May 7 by
Latin American newspapers that
are part of the Tierramérica
network. Tierramérica is a
specialised news service
produced by IPS with the backing
of the United Nations
Development Programme and the
United Nations Environment
Programme.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
