Fires have been raging on Rapa Nui in the South Pacific since Monday. Many of the world-famous stone figures also fell victim to this.
Several of the monumental Moai figures were damaged in the fire.
ela. There is no more isolated place on earth than Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui. Around 4000 kilometers of Pacific lie between the 170 square kilometer volcanic island and the coast of Chile, to which Rapa Nui has belonged since 1888. The island is world-famous for its monumental tuff figures – called Moai – which were created by a Polynesian tribe between the 13th and 16th centuries. There are around 1000 of them as well as carvings. The mightiest are ten meters high and weigh 74 tons.
Now a forest fire has destroyed some of the gigantic Moai. Exactly how many has not yet been clarified. An unknown number of the figures were affected, according to the Chilean Secretary of State for Cultural Heritage. Some figures were so charred that the damage is considered irreparable, Ariki Tepano, director of Ma’u Henua Municipality, which is responsible for managing and maintaining the park, said media reports.
More than 100 hectares were affected in the Rano Raraku sector, which includes the wetland and moai sector, the national park wrote on its Thursday official Facebook page. The area around the Rano Raraku volcano is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A lack of volunteers at the national level would have made it difficult to get the fires that had been raging since Monday under control. At an extraordinary meeting, provincial officials met with representatives of the fire brigade and other organizations to discuss how to deal with the fires, which are still smoldering, and the damage that has been caused.
Fires have destroyed dozens of acres of land.
Easter Island Mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa does not believe the fire was an accident. He explained this according to media reports the local station Radio Pauta: “All fires on Rapa Nui are caused by people”. The damage caused by the fire cannot be undone. A broken symbolic stone cannot be restored, no matter how many millions of euros or dollars are invested.
Rapa Nui only reopened to tourists in August after the island went into complete lockdown during the Covid pandemic. The island depends on tourism. Before Corona, around 160,000 visitors came annually.