Peru allows miners to seek licenses in areas removed from NASCAR Line Protection
Bogota, Colombia (AP) – Peru announced Tuesday that miners operating illegally around the famous Nazca Line will now be able to start the process of obtaining mining permits after the government cuts the protected areas by 42%.
Energy and Mining Minister Jorge Montero said those working in the area must now legalize their mining activities as the area is no longer designated as an archaeological heritage.
“When you operate in a place where mining is prohibited, you are completely illegal…but because this cultural heritage restriction no longer exists, they are no longer violating – they need to operate formally.”
He added that the government does not yet know how many miners are active there at the moment.
The region forms part of a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site, home to the Nazca Line – a huge geographical word engraved in the desert thousands of years ago and one of Peru’s most vulnerable desert ecosystems.
Last week, the Ministry of Culture issued a resolution to reduce the protected areas around the Nasca Line by 2,397 square kilometers (925 square miles). The reserve was established in 1993 and was set to 5,633 square kilometers (2,175 square miles) in 2004.
“It is incredible that the government is not even interested in the legacy of our ancestors, and is not protected and will be destroyed without any control,” Peruvian environmental lawyer Cesar Ipenza told the Associated Press.
Once miners enter, they will have huge environmental impact and will not be held responsible.
“Now the government has exempted the area from protection and the mining petition has begun to appear,” he said.
Culture Minister Fabric Valencia said the reduction was based on “more than 20 years of rigorous research” while the real archaeological reserve was about 3,200 square kilometers (1,235 square miles). On Saturday, he admitted in local Peruvian media that mining was underway in the reserve.
Valencia said that the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which contains the NASCAR Line itself, covers about 450 square kilometers (174 square miles) and is not affected by the change.
AP reviewed the resolution but found no details about the study's justification. The request for these studies was not answered, UNESCO told AP that Peru has not informed the study and will seek information from the government.
Over the past few years, Peru's Ministry of Culture, prosecutors and media have reported on illegal mining in protected protected areas, including damage to mining machinery and camps.
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