Machu Picchu voted South America's leading green destination

The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru has been voted as South America's Leading Green Destination 2010 at the recent 17th Annual World Travel Awards Ceremony in Jamaica.
Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the “Travel Industry’s equivalent to the Oscars”, the World Travel Awards is the most comprehensive and most prestigious awards program of today’s global travel industry and involves a voting campaign of about 185,000 travel professionals worldwide.

Machu Picchu was chosen over other eight nominees that included Argentina's Patagonia; Guyana's Georgetown; Venezuela's Caracas; and Brazil's Abrolhos, Amazonas Tur, Fernando de Noronha, Manaus, and Pantanal.

"This award shows that Peru's tourism sector has a great impact on the economic, social and environmental development of the country," said Promperu's Tourism director Rocio Merino.

The ancient citadel, one of the new seven wonders of the world and a Unesco World Heritage Site, is considered to be one of the most extraordinary examples of scenic architecture in the world.

The city of Machu Picchu itself was built at the top of a granite mountain. The Incas, using ingenious engineering techniques, were able to transport heavy stone blocks up the mountain side, and once there, they used their excellent masonry skills to produce amazingly polished stones that fit together perfectly.

New species discovered every three days in the Amazon

A bald parrot, a pink river dolphin, a new species of anaconda and a tiny blind catfish that lives in waters deep underground are just some of more than 1,200 new species discovered in the Amazon over the last decade.
On average, scientists have found a new plant or animal species every three days for the last 10 years – and that’s not including insects, where the discoveries are almost too many to count.

The Amazon Alive! report confirms the Amazon as one of the most diverse places on Earth, and is a timely reminder of the urgent need to protect it. World governments are discussing new ways to protect species and habitats in the Amazon and elsewhere at the UN biodiversity summit in Nagoya, Japan, this week.

The new species described in the report are made up of 637 plants, 257 fish, 216 amphibians, 55 reptiles, 16 birds and 39 mammals. Click here to watch a slideshow of some of the new species.

They include a 4m-long anaconda, an extraordinary fire-and-water frog, a parrot with a bald head and an astonishing spectrum of feather colours, a tiger-striped tarantula, a new species of pink river dolphin, and a blind, bright red catfish that lives mainly in underground waters.

“This report clearly shows the incredible diversity of life in the Amazon, and what we could lose if we don’t act now,” says Francisco Ruiz, who leads our Living Amazon initiative.

During the last 50 years, nearly a fifth of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed. And it’s still being cleared rapidly to meet growing global demand for meat and other products such as biofuels.

“Urgent action is required to help shift to a sustainable model of development in the Amazon,” says Sarah Hutchison, who leads our work on forests in the region. “Even from here in the UK there are things we can do to help promote a sustainable forest economy in the Amazon.”

One way you can help is by supporting Sky Rainforest Rescue. The project aims to save a billion trees in the Amazon by helping local people earn a better living looking after the forest than they would from chopping it down.

Recent findings at Caral became accessible to the public

Barranca

Ancient mysteries, customs and the architectural complexity held within the 5000-year-old Sacred City of Caral -situated on a dry desert terrace overlooking the green valley of the Supe river- were featured to locals and foreign tourists upon completion of 16 years of research conducted by PEACS. Along the 1.6 kilometer route, visitors explored more than 30 architectural buildings between la Plazuela de la Confluencia or Tinkuy Runa Kancha, situated in the middle of the complex.
According to Pedro Silva, archaeologist at Caral-Supe Special Archaeological Project (PEACS), the Tinkuy Runa's existence demonstrates that Caral was an urban centre with great architectural complexity.
In addition, tourists appreciated the most recent discovery made in the citadel: ornamental designs in the shape of “V” featured in the pyramid La Galeria, located in the section H between La Huanca and minor piramidal buildings.
Visitors also explored the amphitheatre and the major pyramidal building, used to hold government meetings and public activities in high and low zones of Caral.

On the eve of October 30, visitors were able to appreciate the stunning night lighting in buildings and the Rite to the Pacha Mama or Mother Earth, offered in appreciation of 16 years of successful research conducted by PEACS.

According to PEACS director Dr. Ruth Shady, Caral is perceived as a civilization, because its people participated in different activities within a government organization that lasted more than 1000 years.

The Sacred Citadel of Caral is located in the Supe Valley on the central northern coast of Peru and is the oldest city of the Americas.