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Threat to Machu Picchu: Too Many Tourists |
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By Abraham Lama*
The
Peruvian government is finalizing a plan to protect the legendary
Inca city of Machu Picchu. But the tourism industry opposes cutting
the number of visitors to the Andean mountaintop ruins.
LIMA - The Peruvian government has a new conservation
plan in the works for its most important archeological 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 season, when there is little rainfall, every day some
2,500 tourists enter the city that was uncovered after centuries
in oblivion by U.S. explorer Iram 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 Organization) 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 archeological 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, archeological, 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.
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