Peru lacks funds to conserve Machu Picchu & renew Inca Trail
October 20, 2008
Budget cuts made by Peru’s Ministry of Finance are forcing organizations to stop conservation, restoration and management work taking place at the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu and at other important archaeological monuments that are of touristic importance.
In a letter sent by Cecilia Bákula, the head of the National Institute for Culture (INC), the Minister of Finance, Luis Valdivieso, was warned that budget cuts were obligating organizations to stop work on historical sites and even impairing their management.
Furthermore, it was reported that these reductions in costs would keep the INC from fulfilling agreements Peru had made with UNESCO.
The effects of these reductions were recently felt when the INC had to halt reparation work after a forest fire damaged areas in Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu is not the only site that will be affected, said the INC, affirming the conservation of other archaeological sites in Cusco along with the maintenance of museums across the region would be suspended.
These reductions will even affect the maintenance of Cusco’s famous Inca Trail, an attraction that has brought thousands of tourists to the country, said the INC.
The drastic budget reduction has also cost a massive number of INC professionals in Lima, Cusco, Ica, Arequipa, and Trujillo their jobs, reported La Republica newspaper.
INC museums will no longer have security or maintenance services.
In addition, the Institute for Culture has had to stop the repatriation of archaeological artifacts recently recovered from Spain as well as from the United States, France, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador and Chile.
US to reduce Peru’s debt by $25 million if rainforest is protected
October 20, 2008
The Governments of the United States and Peru announced Tuesday an agreement to reduce Peru’s debt payments in exchange for protecting the country’s tropical forests. Under the agreement more than 25 million dollars will be put towards conserving Peru’s rainforests.
This agreement with Peru was made possible by the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) of 1998.
It will complement an existing TFCA debt-for-nature program in Peru dating from 2002, a 1997 debt swap under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative, and the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA), which includes a number of forest protection provisions.
With this agreement, Peru will be the largest beneficiary under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act, with more than 35 million dollars generated for conservation.
Peru is one of the most biologically rich countries on earth. Funds generated by the debt-for-nature program will help Peru protect tropical rainforests of the southwestern Amazon Basin and dry forests of the central Andes.
These areas are home to dense concentrations of endemic birds such as the Andean Condor and Andean Parakeet; primates including the Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey and Howler Monkey; other mammals such as the Jaguar, Amazonian Manatee, Giant Otter, Spectacled Bear and Amazon River Dolphin, as well as many unique plants.
Rivers supplying water to downstream settlements originate in many of these forests, and people living in and around the forests depend on them for their livelihood and survival.
The new Peru agreement marks the 14th Tropical Forest Conservation Act pact, following agreements with Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Panama (two agreements), Paraguay and the Philippines, as well as an earlier agreement with Peru.
These debt-for-nature programs will together generate more than 188 million dollars to protect tropical forests.