Peru’s plan to drastically reduce Nazca Lines park size sparks concerns over environmental and heritage risks

Peru’s decision to shrink its archeological park home to the famous Nazca Lines by around 42% — an area roughly the size of 1,400 soccer fields — has sparked alarm among conservationists, archaeologists and environmental advocates.

Peru’s decision to shrink its archeological park home to the famous Nazca Lines by around 42% — an area roughly the size of 1,400 soccer fields — has sparked alarm among conservationists, archaeologists and environmental advocates. Critics say the rollback paves the way for informal mining and weakens decades of cultural and ecological protection, while the government says the adjustment reflects updated scientific studies and does not compromise the UNESCO World Heritage status or the site’s core protections. “The reduction not only removes protections — it does so precisely where extractive activity is expanding,” said Mariano Castro, Peru’s former vice minister of the environment, adding that the decision could cause “very serious risks and cumulative damage,” as it excludes zones with active or pending mining claims. Castro added that safeguards for archaeological heritage during the formalization of artisanal mining are already limited. “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,” he said. The area in question forms part of a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site, home to the Nazca Lines — massive geoglyphs etched into the desert thousands of years ago — and one of Peru’s most fragile desert ecosystems.