The title is a bit sensationalist. None of the famous animal ones were destroyed, just some of the straight line ones. It's ridiculous that a company felt that they could just quarry over part of a UNESCO world heritage site, but the title makes it seem like they're all gone when that isn't the case.
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I think the underlying message in this bit of sensationalist journalism is that foreign tourists to should hurry and visit the Nazca lines right away, before they get completely destroyed and are forever lost.
The sad thing is that Peru can barely balance the tourist traffic it gets already while still preserving its natural sites and artifacts. Who know how much damage to the lines would result from a rush of tourists trying to see them before they are gone?
You wrote:
"The sad thing is that Peru can barely balance the tourist traffic it gets already while still preserving its natural sites and artifacts. "
Any facts/numbres to back up this claim ?
Do you mean Machu Pichu (Where this is true) or all of Peru ?
I recently visited Nazca and it was not particularly busy at all. ( Compared to last years visit to Yosemite valley it was refreshing not to wait in line to see anything)
Yeah, sorry, no numbers... I was drawing on anecdotal experiences.
I've also been to Nazca and my impression was that though the tourist traffic was only a tiny fraction of Machu Picchu, the town couldn't handle much more of it. Even in off season the airport was booked to capacity and people had to wait hours for scheduled flights.
Another example (besides Machu Picchu) that comes to mind is Paracas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracas_National_Reserve). It's hardly a mainstream tourist attraction, but the degradation from the tourist industry was pretty apparent when I visited in 2009, despite being a protected area.
I was in Peru for a month at the beginning of the year and there were similar rumors abound regarding the closing of the famous Inka Trail in a few years. Not to lessen the story but sometimes I wonder if some of these are planted to encourage people to visit these place "before they're gone".
From what I saw, these popular tourist sites are fine as the government realizes the importance of their preservation to maintain the tourist industry. Every guide I talked to about the Inca Trail rumor said it will never happen. They close the trail every February (slowest season, dangerous too with the rain) for maintenance and also limit the number of groups on the paths at anytime by issuing a limited number of permits.
This isn't required in Nazca, as you fly over on a plane, so beyond the carbon impact of flying, I can't see it getting to a point where there are "too many tourists" that would damage the lines.
