Marcahuamachuco, Peru
Pre-Inca City of the Dead
El Castillo Plaza.
The UEM has considered the need for a community engagement and sustainable development program in which site neighbors as well as residents of the Huamachuco town and surrounding rural villages can benefit from the Marcahuamachuco conservation program. Increased numbers of visitors may well open opportunities for visitor’s services (lodging, food, crafts) to be provided by locals.
Increased citizen participation in the protection of Marcahuamachuco, training in guiding visitors and in reviving crafts and other related activities will all be an important part of GHF’s project. Working with the local communities, site boundaries are being clearly defined, demarcated and enforced to prevent future encroachment.
GHF will contribute with additional, locally hired professional expertise on community engagement through participatory processes to identify and implement activities through which the local communities can find ways to learn about the site and its proper care, establish the cultural and historical links between their heritage and their contemporary rural cultures, and target strategies to generate income opportunities through increased visitation. Activities will include development of a Guides Association and Community-based Tourism Association, promotion of traditional craft development, training in English, development of lodging alternatives and regional attractions encouraging longer stays in the region.
