Peru Authority To Restore Nazca Lines Protected Area

JAKARTA - The Peruvian government last weekend canceled plans to reduce the size of the protected area around the country's ancient Nazca Line, after criticism of the plan made the area vulnerable to the impact of informal mining operations.

Peru's Ministry of Culture said in a statement it would soon restore a protected area of 5,600 square kilometers (2162.17 square miles), which by the end of May had been reduced to 3,200 square kilometers.

The government said at the time the decision was based on research that had put more precise restrictions on areas with "real patriarchal values".

The remote Nazca region, located about 400 km (250 miles) south of Lima, contains hundreds of pre-Hispanic artifacts and its plateau is known as the Nazca Line, where more than 800 giant desert carvings in the form of animals, plants, and geometric figures were made more than 1,500 years ago.

The UN UN UN UNESCO declared the area a World Heritage site in 1994.

A technical panel consisting of government representatives, archaeologists, academics and members of international organizations, including UNESCO, will work together to build consensus on future proposals for zoning and land use in the area, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.

According to figures from the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Peru, 362 small-scale gold miners operate in Nazca District under the program to regulate their status.

Peruvian authorities have previously carried out operations against illegal mining in the area.