Machu Picchu Peru - Future of a world wonder

You probably have heard of the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. This famous wonder of the world is visited by over 1.7 million people every year. And those people leave their marks in nature. So what does the future of this attraction for tourists look like?

World Heritage Machu Picchu

The Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in the Peruvian Andes is the ideal place for a time out in nature. The hotel is also ideally located for visiting Machu Picchu. The ruined city was discovered in 1911 by a Yale University expedition group led by archaeologist Hiram Bingham. In 1983 the Inca city was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and since 2007 it is one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Up to 6,000 people visited the ruins daily until 2016. Due to the high number of visitors, UNESCO threatened to withdraw the status of World Heritage Site. As a result, there were limitations on tickets with time slots for sight-seeing.

A sensitive ecosystem

During the Corona Pandemic, the sanctuary was closed for a total of eight months and only reopened in November 2020 under strict conditions. This period provided a recreational break for the sensitive ecosystem. In September 2019, the United Nations warned that climate change, which is also affecting Machu Picchu, is progressing. Excessive CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have changed the climate of our planet forever.

Machu Picchu Peru: CO2 neutral wonder of the world

An alliance of the partners Inkaterra, the municipal administration of Machu Picchu, the AJE group, and the national parks (SERNANP) wants to ensure change. Machu Picchu is to become the first CO2-neutral wonder of the world – an ambitious goal. By 2030, CO2 emissions are to be reduced by 45% and by 2030 to zero.

The projects of Inkaterra Associación

Inkaterra Associación has been committed to environmental protection in Peru for several years. First, a plastic compressing machine was purchased to process the seven tons of plastic waste per day. This was followed by a system for producing biodiesel and environmentally friendly glycerine. This equipment is located in the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel to prevent pollution from the disposal of oil in the Vilcanota River. You can have a look at the system on-site.

There is also an innovative technology that allows eight tons of organic waste to be processed by pyrolysis (chemical decomposition at high temperatures with no oxygen and no CO2 emissions).

This process produces biochar, a natural fertilizer that, together with one million quinine trees, helps reforest the rainforests.