Machu Picchu on danger list
The legendary Inca fortress city of Machu Picchu, Peru’s most famous tourist site, could be added to a list of endangered heritage sites because it is being “trampled” by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.
According to a report in The Guardian, US experts are considering whether to place the site on its danger list after being told that tourism is a serious threat to the citadel, which is perched on a mountain top 8,500 feet up in the Peruvian Andes.
The newspaper quotes a Unesco spokesman as saying that since Machu Picchu has been seriously threatened since it became a world heritage site in 1983: “Being placed on the list means there has been such a degradation on the site, that the very qualities which make it a world heritage site are being damaged.”
The Guardian reports, however, that the Peruvian tourist authorities are likely to resist calls to restrict access to the country’s most famous attraction, but also quotes Stuart Whittington, of Explore Worldwide as saying: “It is much harder to get permits to go to the citadel; you can’t just turn up as a backpacker and just hike up. It is a very rare, precious corner of the earth, it is unique and needs very careful management to enable it to exist for people to see and appreciate in the future.”
The Daily Telegraph quotes Particia Uribe, formerly Peru’s Unesco director, as saying: “Machu Picchu should not be reduced to a place where thousands of tourists rush through, spending 15 minutes to capture something on their camcorders and them leaving. It’s cheapening, like taking a fine restaurant and serving fast food in it.”
Unesco will make its decision next week.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
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