Peru has more than forty protected natural areas which cover a total area of approximately 127,000 square kilometres, or 4.3% of the nation’s surface area. The function of these protected areas is to ensure the conservation of the biological diversity and the sustainable use of wild flora and fauna resources on both land and sea.

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome the recent establishment of the Cordillera del Condor National Park and the Tuntanai Communal Reserve as part of the Santiago-Comaina Reserved Zone.

(Tuesday 4th September 2007)
 Re-evaluation of the Paracas National Reserve:

We join the entire nation in expressing our sadness in the face of the damage caused to the Paracas National Reserve by the earthquake that struck that part of Peru on August 15th.  Important tourist attractions and infrastructure were severely damaged and this will only serve to worsen the plight of those local families who depend on the socio-economic benefits of tourism normally generated by this protected natural area.

We applaud, however, the efforts already made by the Reserve’s park rangers in the drive to rebuild after the disaster, as well as the prompt response of the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA), which is already inspecting and evaluating the damage caused.

Most of the damage caused to this important natural reserve occurred at two of its main landscape features – the emblematic rock outcrops known as the Cathedral and the Friar, with the nearby viewpoint also suffering severe damage which has rendered it unsafe. INRENA has also concluded that the earthquake and the subsequent tidal wave produced significant damage to many of the structures of the traditional tourist circuit, including the observation points at the seabird and seal colonies, the visitors’ centre and some of the control points. The Reserve will therefore only be reopened to visitors when the area is deemed safe once more.