Biotech Updates

Greenpeace Damages a World Heritage Site in Peru

December 17, 2014

Twelve members of the environmental group Greenpeace performed a stunt in Peruvian desert to express their participation in the Conference on Climate Change held in Lima, Peru on December 1-14. They placed huge yellow letters stating "Time for Change! The Future is Renewable. Greenpeace" just beside the hummingbird-like geoglyph, which is part of the Nazca lines. The Nazca lines are mysterious geometric figures covering the Nazca desert in the southern coast of Peru built by ancient Nazca people during the 4th to 9th century. The hummingbird-like geoglyph is called Colibri, which is the most visible and most recognized of all the figures in the desert.

This act raised widespread public concern not because of the statement of Greenpeace, but because their action damaged the Nazca lines, which is recognized as a World Heritage Site by United Nations Educational, scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1994. The ground around the site is very fragile and considered as sacred that the government of Peru prohibits anyone from walking on the site without permission, even the president or top officials. Researchers who visit the site wear special shoes to avoid leaving traces, but the Greenpeace members wore regular shoes leaving footprints that may last for hundreds and thousands of years.

According to Luis Jaime Castillo, a Peruvian deputy culture minister, Peru would file charges of "attacking archaeological monuments" against the activists from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Greenpeace has a history of insensitive or poorly-staged actions such as destroying field trial sites of Bt eggplant and vitamin A-rich rice, crops that were designed to address farmers' overuse of pesticides and prevent blindness, respectively.

For more information, visit the following links: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141212-nazca-lines-greenpeace-archaeology-science/, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30412336, and http://gizmodo.com/how-greenpeace-wrecked-one-of-the-most-sacred-places-in-1669873583.