Nazca Lines Under Threat? Peru’s Downsizing Plan Sparks Alarm

Peru’s ministry of culture is receiving strong criticism from archaeologists and environmentalists following its decision to significantly reduce the size of the archaeological reserve that contains the Nazca Lines, hundreds of 2,000-year-old geoglyphs that are gouged into the coastal desert of southern Peru.

On May 28, Peru’s ministry of culture released a resolution confirming its plan to shrink the Nazca Lines and Geoglyphs Archaeological Reserve from 2,175 square miles to 1,236 square miles, a reduction of more than 40 percent. While the resolution was unclear on the motivations behind shifting the boundaries of the reserve, which were originally established in 1993, at a public hearing on the decision held on May 30, Moira Novoa Silva, a vice minister from the ministry of culture, suggested economic considerations were at work.

“The Ministry of Culture’s primary mission is to ensure [Nazca’s] conservation and strengthen it with community participation,” Novoa Silva said in Ica, the department that is home to the Nazca Lines. “This is a task we must undertake to ensure the care and protection of our cultural heritage through proper management. It will also allow for the development of the population’s economic activities, which must be in harmony with the valuable legacy our cultures have left us.”

The Nazca Lines in Peru. Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images.

The Nazca Lines were designated a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1994 and although the Ministry of Culture has repeatedly stated the decision will not impact this status—the areas affected, it claimed, are outside those inscribed by UNESCO—environmentalists, archaeologists, and former politicians are worried about the potential damage to the site from informal mining. The decision is seen as paving the way to legitimize the numerous small-scale mining activities that are already active in the area.

“The reduction not only removes protections, it does so precisely where extractive activity is expanding,” Mariano Castro, Peru’s former vice minister of the environment, told the Associated Press, noting the decision could pose serious risks and damage to the area. “This is made worse by the Ministry of Culture’s failure to consider the cumulative impact of dozens or even hundreds of mining operations on sensitive archaeological zones.”

Environmentalists argue the ministry’s resolution may violate Peru’s environmental impact assessment law, which necessitates the protection of archaeological and historical sites. The government believes the now-exposed areas are not of particular archaeological interest, noting that its decision was based on in-depth studies dating back more than 20 years, but many disagree, claiming the separated area is where some of the earliest rituals took place.

Aerial view of the Nazca Lines in Lima, Peru. Photo: Martin Bernetti / AFP via Getty Images.

“This is a weakening of both environmental and cultural protections,” César Ipenza, Peruvian environmental lawyer, said. “The state should be upholding its commitments under international agreements, not yielding to private interests. There’s an alliance between the current government and informal mining sectors and the legal framework continues to be relaxed to benefit them.”

The Nazca Lines are made up of more than 800 straight lines, 300 geometric figures, and 70 animal and plant designs were made by peoples of the Nazca culture between 200 B.C.E and 500 C.E. Many were created by removing surface rocks and pebbles to reveal the lighter-colored desert sand. Well-preserved by the region’s dry climate, they were rediscovered by pilots in the 1930s and have been the subject of archeological fascination ever since. Last year, researchers used artificial intelligence to identify 303 new geoglyphs.