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posted by janrinok on Saturday December 13 2014, @09:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the protect-the-environment-by-damaging-it dept.

The NYT reports that Peruvian authorities say Greenpeace activists have damaged the fragile, and restricted, landscape near the Nazca lines, ancient man-made designs etched in the Peruvian desert when they placed a large sign that promoted renewable energy near a set of lines that form the shape of a giant hummingbird. The sign was meant to draw the attention of world leaders, reporters and others who were in Lima, the Peruvian capital, for a United Nations summit meeting aimed at reaching an agreement to address climate change. Greenpeace issued a statement apologizing for the stunt at the archaeological site and its international executive director, Kumi Naidoo, flew to Lima to apologize for scarring one of Peru’s most treasured national symbols. “We are not ready to accept apologies from anybody,” says Luis Jaime Castillo, the vice minister for cultural heritage. “Let them apologize after they repair the damage.”

But repair may not be possible. The desert around the lines is made up of white sand capped by a darker rocky layer. By walking through the desert the interlopers disturbed the upper layer, exposing the lighter sand below. Visits to the site are closely supervised - ministers and presidents have to seek special permission and special footwear to tread on the fragile ground where the 1,500 year old lines are cut. “A bad step, a heavy step, what it does is that it marks the ground forever,” says Castillo. “There is no known technique to restore it the way it was.” Castillo says that the group walked in single file through the desert, meaning that they made a deep track in the ground then they spread out in the area where they laid the letters, making many more marks over a wide area. “The hummingbird was in a pristine area, untouched,” Castillo added. “Perhaps it was the best figure.”

 
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  • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday December 15 2014, @04:16PM

    by urza9814 (3954) on Monday December 15 2014, @04:16PM (#126180) Journal

    Most of the GP volunteers have at least some college education, live a spoiled brat lifestyle, come from a long distance, with time to think about their plans on the way, and have heard about the destruction of other historic sites. They HAD to know what they were doing was wrong. The site is a world treasure.

    A) Greenpeace is an *environmental* organization, not an art preservation society. They didn't cause any environmental damage here. They aren't accused of causing any environmental damage here. What they're accused of is scuffing up the margins of a canvas. You're basically saying a veterinarian MUST know how to care for a Picasso painting simply because they went to school. And not only that they must know how to care for it, but that they must give a damn too. And to go one step further, if someone were trying to create the Nazca lines today, Greenpeace would be *totally* against it. They exist to *limit* human alteration to our environment, not to preserve and encourage it. I can understand why people would be upset about this "damage", but it doesn't contradict the mission of Greenpeace in any way.

    B) They were accused of *walking through sand*. That's all. They didn't touch the lines, they didn't intentionally screw with anything. They moved a bit of sand. Just like the wind has been doing for over a thousand years. Just like animals have been doing for over a thousand years. Who in their right mind would think that would be a problem?

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