Four tourists must pay a fine of approximately 650,000 pesos each, for having caused damage with their quads in the protected natural area Pumice Stone Fieldwhich is located in the department of Antofagasta de la Sierra, northwest of Catamarca, which it could take between 30 and 40 years to recover the natural heritage.
“Last Tuesday, some tourists toured our area of the Puna in Catamarca and violated Law 5,070, which regulates the creation and management of protected areas in our province,” said the head of the Catamarca Ranger Division, Wilson Solohaga.
Solohaga explained that these people “went off the route set up for tourism and they damaged the natural heritage of the area that will take many years to recover naturally, between 30 and 40 years so that the actions of the environment can restore that place”. The official specified that the area has billboards installed and It is signposted that “it is forbidden to enter the volcano zone”.
Solohaga explained, in dialogue with the TN channel, that what was damaged is the slope of the volcanofor “The tracks left by the quads when climbing, because it is a surface with a very thin black layer and just walking on it damages it.”
According to the park ranger, there are four identified people who assumed responsibility and “They apologized, but a damage caused within a protected area has to be paid with a severe fine”.
“They did not respect the signage. They offered to come with rakes and fix the baton that was sent to them, butIt’s impossible to fix it. What they caused is inadmissible”, warned Carlos Barrionuevo, director of Biodiversity and Natural Protected Areas of the province.
According to article 54 of Law 5,070, each tourist must pay the amount equivalent to 5,000 liters of fuel at current value, which would reach approximately $650,000 per person.
The field protected area has more than 5,000 rock formations concentrated in an area 25 kilometers long and a sea of pumice stones that look like petrified waves.