Current Threats
- Mining
- Unregulated tourism
- Waste and pollution
- Farming, livestock herding and slash-and-burn agriculture
- Sports fishing and hunting
- Destruction of terracing and archaeological sites
- Loss of forest resources
Mining
Mining is a key large-scale industrial activity in the region, both within and outside the protected area. Mining has boosted the exchange of goods and services in the area and has created a large number of jobs. The Yauyos sector adjacent to the park features the mines of Yauricocha, Pacocha, Caramachay, and La Calera and the protected area around the Cochas River watershed in Junín is home to around 10 small- and medium-scale mining operations. The Yauricocha mine, formerly run by the state mining company Centromín Peru and now under the administration of the Sociedad Minera Corona, is located in the district of Alis and has been mining zinc, copper, silver, and lead in the area for over a century. Production has dwindled in recent years, but the new administration hopes to boost output. Despite the fact this large mine does not lie inside the protected area, it has a marked influence on the local environment and economy (19). Mining operations at Yauricocha dump tailings into the Alis River upstream of the reserve. One local inhabitant claimed every mining operation dumps tailings during the rainy season - when rivers are swollen, the water is darker and it is difficult to detect dumping. During a visit to the area, the waters of the Alis River were seen to be darker than other rivers in the region. Farmers interviewed for this report claim that at one time trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) disappeared from the river altogether. Today, they inhabit the lower part of the river, leading local inhabitants to wonder whether the fish adapted to the polluted conditions.
Compañía Minera San Valentín, owned by the Arias Group, operates the Pacocha mine within the protected area. The operation dumps tailings into Lake Pacocha, potentially affecting the Laraos River. The peasant farming community of Laraos is waging an ongoing legal battle with the mine and has filed several lawsuits to stop the dumping. Under current legislation, IRENA offers a technical opinion on the implementation of activities in natural areas or rural zones. When interviewed, INRENA officials said they opposed the project.
The legacy of mining is visible elsewhere in the preserve. Old coal mines line the roads through the region and spoil piles tower over water sources and agricultural land. In the district of Alis, in the village of Tinco de Alis, there is an increasingly active calcium carbonate (lime) quarry located alongside the access road into the tourist area, which deteriorates the scenic quality of the entrance and is a constant source of particulate emissions. This dust affects the river, the surrounding plant life, and the inhabitants of the village of Tinco de Alis. Tailings are piled alongside the Cañete River. Within the protected area in the province of Jauja, small- and medium-scale mining operations extract silicate, marble, carbonate, gypsum, lime, and traventine. These operations and their industrial furnaces are a source of both air and water pollution.
The mines have social impacts, as well. Many of the children of SAIS Túpac Amaru cooperative workers find work in the mines. While the cooperative tries to control these operations, many of these mines operate in a clandestine fashion. Miners were traditionally exploited, abused, and forced to work excessive hours, particularly in informal mining operations, where they were not paid a fair wage or properly fed. These conditions lead some miners to hunt vicuña, deer, and duck and use dynamite while fishing (20).
The impacts of mining around Junin
Unorganized Tourism
The Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve has the potential to be a major tourist destination, but without formal planning and promotion, there is little actual tourism in the sector. The natural conditions of the landscape, the abundance of archaeological sites, and the cultural and artistic heritage of the local communities all motivated the declaration of a protected area designed to attract recreation and tourism to the area (21).
In recent years, the area has seen an increase in the number of visitors, mainly Peruvians from Lima and Huancayo, who have traveled to the area. The main attractions of the area include: lakes, rivers and waterfalls (the area features around 40 lakes located at varying altitudes), archaeological ruins, Inca terracing and cave paintings, flora and fauna, snow-capped peaks and geological formations, streams and hot springs, villages, agriculture, and grazing herds (22).
Tourism is still a fledgling business. There are no routes, trails, or circuits properly prepared for tourism purposes. There are no trained guides, information sources, services, or basic infrastructure such as visitor centers, lodging, or restaurants. While the preserve covers a large area, tourism in the region focuses on the village of Huancaya, where visitors go camping and visit the lakes of Huallhua, Cuchupasca and Huarimanca. Some 250-300 visitors come here on average during holidays, making a total of 900-1,000 people a year.
Laguna de Huallhua, Huancaya
Due to the lack of planning and local organization, the increase in tourism in the area has brought about the typical problems linked to the trade: an increase in litter and human waste as many of the less environmentally-aware tourists leave their trash behind at campsites. Others put their waste in plastic bags, but then leave the bags in the area so the local villagers can dispose of them, even though the local communities do not have adequate waste disposal systems. Tourism also brings an increase in noise and crowds of people, who listen to loud music, drink alcohol, and hold noisy parties. Many visitors chop down vegetation to light bonfires and make campsites in inappropriate spots, creating clearings and affecting the landscape. Some tourists come to fish and hunt, disrupting the local fauna.
The construction of new infrastructure, especially in villages, represents a potential risk to the visual integrity of the area's landscape. Many local mayors, in a bid to carry out civil engineering works and modernize their towns, build infrastructure with solid materials (iron rods, cement and bricks), changing the rural feel provided by the typical construction of highland towns.
The local population has great expectations for tourism that are reinforced with the arrival of every new tourist and the success of every business directed at tourism. The limited agricultural possibilities of the area lead the local communities to see tourism as an activity with major economic potential. However, local residents have yet to form a clear idea as to how to benefit from tourism and how to go about managing the trade. The lack of infrastructure and poor road conditions limit tourist access, and there are no regulations, control posts, or park wardens for the area. Nor is there waste disposal or any entrance fees for the reserve. Tourists have no guarantees, no protection, no services or facilities. There is no information on the various options or tourist products offered in the area. With all these factors, it is difficult to manage or promote organized tourism in the region.
Local residents fear that the declaration of the area as a landscape reserve will attract large-scale capitalists to the area and shut out the local population from the benefits of tourism. Therefore, local authorities and institutions are working to organize the area to take advantage of the growing influx of tourism. Local governments are promoting the creation of tourism companies run by the local population to ensure the residents manage and benefit from the tourism industry.
The main square in Laraos Erosion and trash near Vitis
Around Jauja, within the SAIS Túpac Amaru cooperative, tourism is practically non-existent despite the fact that the area's communities, mountains, and highland lakes are easily accessible via the Central Highway and the town has a well-built hotel with a restaurant attended by personnel from the cooperative. The area features the Corivinchos ruins, the Helenapuquio, cave paintings, the Shutjo Canyon on the Piñascochas River, Puya Raimondi cacti in Canchayllo, and Inca terracing. The SAIS Túpac Amaru aims to promote its trout farming, cattle rodeos, sheep-shearing, milking and preparation of dairy goods, arts and crafts, and Morochucos horse races as tourist attractions.
The ruins at Corivinchos and the Cañón de Shutjo Lake Ticllacocha
Puyas Raimondi in Canchayllo
Trash, sewage, and pollution
Domestic litter such as plastic bags, bottles, tins, packaging, etc., is a major problem in the area. Towns do not have proper garbage disposal systems and instead dump their waste on nearby land or directly into the river. Trash negatively impacts the environment in the landscape reserve, degrading the tourist experience.
Tourism also contributes its share of trash. Visitors bring in products from outside the area in plastic bags, boxes, tins and bottles, which, once used, are left behind in the area as litter. Large amounts of garbage are left behind by tourists, particularly on holidays or long weekends. Local communities have no way of disposing of the waste left behind by tourists, and merely pick up litter at the campsites and dump it straight into the river.
The villagers have a similar problem dealing with domestic sewage water. Communities do not have sewage systems, and in some towns the local municipalities have built outhouses next to rivers so that human waste goes directly into the water.
Trash disposal in a stream
Farming and slash-and-burn agriculture
Local communities use converted land for grazing pastures. Grazing from sheep and dairy cattle puts pressure on the soil's capacity for re-growth, eroding nutrients in the soil. Burning pastures on hillsides with the aim of renewing growth and producing tender shoots for cattle feed is a widespread local custom (23). This practice causes erosion and soil loss, air pollution, threatens plant species, and negatively impacts the landscape.
Fishing and hunting
The landscape reserve is home to many camelids, including llamas and alpacas bred by local communities and large numbers of wild vicuñas. The area was once home to the second largest vicuña population in Peru, after Pampa Galeras in the southern Andes. In recent years, however, the number of vicuñas has dropped dramatically due to poaching. Poachers hunt the animals for their valuable and fine wool, which is in major demand on markets abroad. Poachers are believed to live in the area, but also come from towns such as Huancayo, Jauja and La Oroya, and smuggle out the fiber to sell it on the black market.
Fishing and hunting are currently small-scale operations, but due to the sensitive nature of the fauna, these activities have a major impact on the local wildlife. This can be seen on Lake Huallhua, near the community of Huancaya. One local resident interviewed claimed the area was once home to a large waterfowl population. Tourists came with firearms and scared the birds away, which have migrated further into the upper Andean reaches, near the community of Vilca, where there are practically no tourists or hunters. The local population hunts game on a smaller scale, mainly for their own food, and hunters primarily shoot foxes, deer and duck.
Fishing occurs directly in the river. The local population hauls in large quantities of trout to supplement their diet. Despite this dependence, there is no guidance or regulation to ensure the proper management of the fishery.
Some communities supplement their wild catch with trout farming. In the Yauyos section of the reserve, there are two fish farms in floating cages in Huancaya and three in pools near Alis. Local communities see fish farming as a major opportunity to reap returns. At the fish farm in the community of Huancaya on Lake Huallhua, for example, residents haul in trout catches two or three times a year, netting 3,000-4,000 kg per catch. Trout sells for S/.7/kg (US$2), earning the community S/.21,000-28,000 (US$6,000-8,000) per catch. This fish farm works with a floating system in the middle of Lake Huallhua, a major tourist destination in the area, affecting the local landscape.
In the Jauja section, the SAIS Túpac Amaru cooperative has six floating cages and farms that use compartmentalized pools. Trout production is highly technical. Advances enable the cooperative to produce 90-120 tons a year and catches are regularly brought in year-round. The peasant farming communities which are members of the cooperative, meanwhile, run seven private fish farms in pools and 10 floating cages.
A floating fish farm in the laguna de Huallhua SAIS Túpac Amaru fish farms
Destruction of terraces and archaeological sites
The Incas developed a highly advanced form of agriculture that enabled them to farm on extremely steep slopes. Their stone terraces reshaped the natural landscape and represent striking examples of archaeological sites, particularly the terracing at Vitis, Miraflores, Laraos and Carania. These terraces, Inca ruins, and other archaeological sites are important tourist attractions in the area. Today these terraces and other archaeological sites are gradually deteriorating due to grazing and poorly-managed farming techniques, which utilize the terraces as corrals for cattle herding and as extra land for planting alfalfa and other livestock feed (
24). Unmaintained terraces deteriorate as weeds, bush, and tree roots force themselves between stones, separating and crumbling walls. Rainfall and water from irrigation flow through these cracks, speeding up the cycle of deterioration.
Inca terraces in Laraos Active terraces
Loss of forest resources
The forests within the area make up a small portion of the landscape. The main threat to forest resources in the reserve is firewood collection. While most villages, particularly those in the lowlands, have electricity, most residents do not have ovens and use firewood for cooking and heating. The vegetation surrounding these communities has been stripped, forcing villagers to look further afield for firewood.
Many of the locals make use of eucalyptus trees that grow on their land and typically harvest two or three trees a season to sell as firewood. This currently eases the pressure on the natural vegetation. However, with the potential increase in the population and activities within the reserve, an increase in local demand for firewood is foreseeable. At the same time, the projected increase in tourism and consequent opening of restaurants are also likely to increase demand for firewood. This incentive could spur local inhabitants to concentrate on gathering firewood from natural forests for commercial purposes. Compared to eucalyptus, wood from native species has a tougher consistency and burns longer.
Sheep and goat herds inhibit forest regeneration. The landscape reserve features forests of native species (Colle, Quinual, Quishuar, and others) which grow in small groves that are easily eradicated. Excessive grazing keeps new growth from appearing and these natural forests eventually disappear.
The region is part of the National Program for Hydrographic Watershed Management, PRONAMACHS, a state entity dedicated to reforesting hillsides, establishing plant nurseries, and providing training and promotion for forestry activities. Despite the presence of this agency in the region, forestry is small-scale. If the program is cut short or is halted, the scant planting done in the region to date will be stopped. There is no awareness or particular motivation for people to plant trees and reforest the area (25).
Forest plantations are dominated by Eucalyptus globulus. Forest nurseries exist in the communities of Huancaya, Vitis, Miraflores, Piños, Carania, Alis and Laraos, producing on average 10,000 saplings each, though this production is not reflective of the number of actual plantings in the forest (26).
Future Threats
- Major hydroelectric project
- Uncontrolled increase in trout farms
- Increase in disorganized tourism
Major hydroelectric project
The El Platanal construction project envisions a dam and reservoir within the landscape preserve to generate energy and irrigate the distant desert plains along the coast. The project plans to build a 200-meter high dam in the canyon formed by high mountains that hem in the Cañete River at the entrance to the reserve. The reservoir created will measure 8km long.
Site of the future dam
The dam will flood large amounts of land currently used for farming, destroy Inca terracing and sections of native forests growing in gullies and on hillsides, and completely cover the homes and town of Llapay. The dam will also cover the access road into the area, requiring the construction of a 12 km detour. This has caused conflict within neighboring communities, each of whom want this new stretch of road to run through their communities.
The project will directly affect 60 families in the town of Llapay and 45 families who live alongside the river between the dam and Llapay - a total of 105 families will have to be resettled.
The project aims to provide irrigation to the plains of Cañete on the coast, an inhospitable desert area, expand the agricultural frontier, and spur development in the area. The plains have been settled by large numbers of Andean migrants, interfering with the project plans and threatening the project itself. Investors are pressuring the government for resolution so the project can get underway.
Uncontrolled increase in trout farms
There is growing interest among the communities in trout farming as a source of income. The potential increase in the number of fish farms, both on land alongside rivers and gullies, and as a floating web of cages on the lakes, could cause a visual impact on the scenery.
The concentration of trout in floating cages could lead to the eutrophication of the lakes. The increased levels of in excrement in the water would serve as a fertilizer for algae and other aquatic plant life, clouding the water, saturating the ecosystem, and impacting the aquatic flora and fauna.
Increase in disorganized tourism
Due to the extraordinary potential of the region and its legal status as a landscape reserve, an increase in tourism in the area is possible. Unless necessary measures are taken ahead of time, tourism could bring increases in litter, waste and excretion; crowding in areas of interest and campsites; the deterioration of archaeological sites; unequal changes in the local economy; and an increase in land prices. Without proper planning, the negative impacts of tourism will be that much greater and harder to manage. The potential exists that the area will find itself unable to handle tourist demand due to the lack of infrastructure and services. A negative visitor experience potentially leads to disorderly activity (indiscriminate use of resources, concentrated supply, non-existent zoning).
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19. Ibid. Page 38.
20. Conversation with local inhabitants.
21. Under the terms of the Law of Natural Protected Areas No. 26834, Article 22, landscape reserves are areas which protect environments whose geography features a harmonious relationship between Man and Nature, and which is home to an important natural, aesthetic and cultural heritage.
22. Ibid. Page 54.
23. Ibid. Page 57.
24. Ibid. Page 51.
25. Conversation with PRONAMACHS official in the field.
26. CODENY Op. Cit. Page 26.
