The Art World: Can Machu Picchu be saved?

NEW YORK, July 18 (UPI) -- Machu Picchu, the ruins of an Inca city high in the Peruvian Andes, is in danger of serious damage from tourism and land erosion that the Peruvian government seems unable or unwilling to control.

The site has much in common with another archaeological wonder, the Angkor temple complex in Cambodia, which is also threatened by heavy tourism, vandalism of art thieves, and jungle intrusion. Both turn up repeatedly on lists of the world's most endangered monuments in need of immediate intervention if they are to survive.

Future generations would be the poorer if Machu Picchu or Angkor were destroyed, for they are the most recently discovered wonders of the ancient world, having been returned to the consciousness of mankind in general only in the past century.

Angkor is beginning to get the attention it needs from the Cambodian government and international agencies, although years of work and planning will be necessary to secure the site from further depredations. But Machu Picchu has received scant consideration from the global community, even when it was threatened by inappropriate commercial development during the corrupt, tourist-greedy Fujimori regime.

Former President Alberto Fujimori entertained such schemes as rapid transit to Machu Picchu by means of helicopters and a cable railway and a sound and light show. Fortunately, nothing came of these projects.

The "lost city of the Incas" was found in a remarkable state of preservation in 1911 by a young American archaeologist, Hiram Bingham, head of a Yale University expedition and later governor of Connecticut and a senator from that state. It is perched on a narrow saddle between two sharp peaks, a site of five square miles that includes a temple, fortress and domestic structures in terraced gardens linked by more than 3,000 steps.

So remote was the Incan retreat that the occupying Spanish never found it, and it was only a legend by the time Bingham arrived in Peru for the first time in 1906. The site is 50 miles northwest of Cuzco, where most visitors now stay, and can be reached only by a road that follows the old Inca trail.

The site, apparently abandoned centuries ago and currently occupied by 140 farming families, is one of the few pre-Columbian urban centers ever found intact. Although the quality of stone masonry at Machu Picchu cannot match the perfection of stonework at some other sites, including Cuzco, it has held up well with some modern restoration, and the ruins' romantic setting above the cloud line makes it by far the most beautiful archaeological site in South America.

A visit to the site only 35 years ago, when it was first officially surveyed by the Peruvain government, was almost a private experience without the aggravation of crowds of tourists, souvenir sellers, and refreshment stands, and there was only one small inn for those who wished to stay overnight. Today, Machu Picchu is a magnet attracting more than 300,000 visitors, and the resulting wear and tear is beginning to show.

Trails and stairways are being worn away and the area is made unsightly by the usual tourist litter. A limit of 500 has had to be set on the number of people allowed on the Inca trail within the site at any one time. Only recently a limit was imposed on the weight of tourists' packs carried by porters, but this is only a gesture toward real control of tourism.

Unusually heavy rains in recent years, blamed on El Nino, have caused serious terrace erosion and slippage of some mountainside structures into the precipitous Urubamba River ravine. In 1998, a crane being used in filming an advertisement toppled and damaged the Intihutana, a sun dial that was one of the site's most interesting features. Fires also have caused considerable damage to trees and pastures.

Also a threat is the nearby village of Aguas Calientes that is growing in size due to tourism and has polluted the river. Only recently its rubbish dumps have been sealed off and a new water and drainage system installed. The Inca trail has been cleaned up and signposted, and designated camping areas are scheduled to be laid out.

Machu Picchu is administered by several agencies whose efforts have often ended in chaos. President Alejandro Toledo, who took office last August, has set up a National Commission of Culture with a mandate to develop a unified cultural policy. It would include guidelines for archaeological preservation at Machu Picchu, Peru's No. 1 tourist attraction and the only aspect of the nation's economy to maintain growth at a time of general recession.

However, there is no agreed-upon policy on how to distribute profits from the site at present, and $6.1 million given by the Finnish government six years ago toward conservation and research at Machu Picchu has been squandered. The gift involved cancellation of Peru's $25 million debt to Finland in return for opening of the site to international scholars.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization declared Machu Picchu a World Cultural Site in 1989, and 10 years later the World Monuments Fund put the site on its 100 Most Endangered watch list. The Fujimori regime finally came to its senses and set up a management unit for Machu Picchu three years ago to bring about agreement among the bodies running and protecting the site.

This unit is also charged with implementing a master developmental plan based on the recommendations of numerous cultural and conservation organizations and approved by UNESCO. Its work is continuing under the administration of President Alejandro Toledo, who has Indian blood, and progress toward securing the future of Machu Picchu seems assured.

It's about time, but almost too late.