Natural heritage of Peru

When a natural area is important, it is called natural heritage, and this is nothing more than giving international recognition to a natural environment to promote it with technical and economic assistance.

The purpose of declaring a space as natural heritage is done with the intention of protecting it from all anthropic threats, that is, threats from human activities, thus ensuring its conservation and trying to avoid its imbalance and the extinction of species in the zone.

UNESCO includes in its list of world heritage exactly 12 cultural assets and sites of Peru, of these twelve are eight of a cultural type, two that belong to natural heritage and another two are mixed heritage, since they are of cultural and natural importance. Therefore, below, only the natural heritages of Peru and mixed will be shown :

Natural heritages of Peru

• Manu National Park: this park is located between the Madre de Dios Regions and the Amazon basin in southwestern Peru. It is in 1977 when UNESCO recognized this area as the Manu National Park. It is characterized by great biodiversity that is why this area is so important to protect. The Manu National Park has suffered little human impact since it is difficult to access, although it is the residence of small indigenous groups.
• Huascarán National Park: it is located in one of the highest mountain ranges in the world of the European Andes. It includes a great variety of Ecosystems and is characterized by tropical vegetation in some of its areas, and in the highest places there is paramo and puna vegetation. The vicuña, a mammal with great importance in the South American area, lives in this Park. The danger of extinction of this species, led to concern also for other species in the area such as the Queen of the Andes. This means that this space begins to be monitored and later in 1975 it was established as a National Park to protect its biodiversity.

Mixed patrimonies of Peru

• Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu: it is located in the district of Machu Pichu, and it is a sanctuary with great artistic value. But it is also considered natural heritage since it is located in a mountainous area, forming part of the High Andes and the Amazon basin. In the area of ​​the Sanctuary there are a great variety of microclimates and it is composed of a great biodiversity that must be conserved.
• Río Abiseo National Park: it was created in 1983 and is located in the Mariscal Cáceres province. For its archaeological remains it is known that there was a presence of human populations. The area is characterized by having some Andean forests and grasslands, and it protects one of the most important tributaries of the Amazon, which would be three rivers of the Huallaga system. In this place there is a great variety of unknown plant and animal species that science has to study, that is why it is so important to conserve it.

To protect the natural heritage of Peru , as well as all the natural heritage of the entire world, a series of guidelines must be followed that will ensure that it is not affected. These are very important since, although they are areas considered as natural heritage, tourism can be done in them, but always under a series of rules that do not damage the space, that is, through green tourism , also called ecological tourism :

• Do not cut or take specimens of plant species, not even their seeds.
• Hunting and capturing animals , as well as taking eggs of oviparous species, is prohibited .
• Just as it is forbidden to take the species from the area, it is totally forbidden to introduce exotic species , that is to say, those that are not autochthonous since these could become invasive species and displace native species or even make them disappear.
• No residue should be left. Both in natural areas and in those that are not. The waste we generate must be stored until we find a suitable place to deposit it.
• Nothing can be thrown into water areas such as rivers, streams, lagoons, etc.
• When visiting an area classified as natural heritage, the visitor will not be able to deviate from the marked paths or paths.

If we want to do good sustainable tourism in Peru and enjoy its natural heritage, we must not forget that it is our responsibility to protect and conserve it, as it is part of our home, of our planet.

If you want to read more articles similar to Natural Heritage of Peru , we recommend that you enter our Ecosystems category .