Project
EASTER ISLAND (RAPA NUI)
- WMF Program:Field Project, Visitor’s Center, 2000 Watch, 1996 Watch
A Polynesian volcanic island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle, Easter Island is a special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888. It is most famous for the hundreds of extant large carved monolithic statues, known as moai, that were created to represent ancestors by the Rapa Nui people from approximately the ninth to the seventeenth centuries. Much of the island is protected within Rapa Nui National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site that is managed by CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal de Chile), the organization responsible for the management, administration, and conservation of Chile’s national parks.
World Monuments Fund has worked on Easter Island since the late 1960s and has been particularly active since the mid 1980s. Together with CONAF, WMF has organized training courses for park rangers, conducted climate studies, collected meteorological data, carried out site protection and interpretation studies, installed monitoring systems, developed a conservation database of the Orongo petroglyphs, and more. Planning for the conservation of and site management at the Orongo Cermonial Village began in 2001 in close consultation with community leaders, organizations, and local stakeholders. Over the years the World Monuments Fund has held a series of workshops focused on redevelopment, interpretation, conservation and management plans for the site.
The design of the visitor reception center at Orongo integrates the existing facilities; the core of the new building is the old warden station, much of the original structure will be retained, and construction materials will be recycled and incorporated into the new building. Because electric power is not available, alternate sources of energy, including solar and wind, will be used. New restrooms will utilize state-of-the-art composting toilets and a rain water recycling system will be implemented.
The new visitor center, the Centro de Recepción de Visitantes de la Aldea Ceremonial de Orongo, is located at the entrance to the Orongo Ceremonial Village, one of the most significant archaeological sites in Rapa Nui National Park and the most visited place on Easter Island. Severely impacted by increasing numbers of tourists each year, Orongo has been the focus of an intensive conservation and interpretive program supported by WMF and American Express since 2001. The visitor center is the last component of this program, and will serve as an introduction to the national park. It will provide a heritage interpretation and information program for visitors, will regulate and manage visitation to enhance visitors’ experience at the site, and will minimize negative impacts on the site’s fragile archeological resources. Local craftsmen will play a major role on the construction of the visitor reception facility, using sustainable architecture principles.
The support of American Express and World Monuments Fund for the new visitor center is part of the organizations’ joint Sustainable Tourism Initiative, which in turn is part of the American Express Partners in Preservation initiative launched in 2006 and focused on sustaining historic sites in the face of increased visitor activities and environmental impacts, and preserving them for future generations to enjoy.








