Peru Archives - Page 15 of 15 - Yachay Productions

How a Peruvian island is making money from bird poo

Dan Collyns Business, Video September 2, 2010July 24, 2012bird droppings, fertiliser, Guanape Sur island, Guanay Cormorant, guano, organic product, Peru, Peruvian Booby

Guanape Sur island off northern Peru makes money from selling bird droppings – also known as guano. Commonly used in the 19th Century as a fertiliser, this organic product is making a comeback.

Two types of sea bird whose droppings produce guano – the Peruvian Booby and Guanay Cormorant – are protected. About 300 men live and work on the island for eight months of the year.

The guano is shipped off to organic farmers in Peru’s mountains and jungle. Peru is the world’s number one guano producer, with 30,000 tonnes a year.

See the video on the BBC

Close-Up: Peru’s beer-drinking ritual

Dan Collyns Video July 9, 2010July 24, 2012Beer, Drinking, Peru

In an ongoing series, BBC News focuses on aspects of life in countries and cities around the world. What may seem ordinary and familiar to the people who live there, can be surprising to those who do not.
Having a drink with friends is part of Peruvian culture – and there are very specific rules about the way that beer is shared.
Dan Collyns joins a group of football-playing friends as they enjoy a post-match drink – and tries to get to grips with a very old tradition.

See the video on the BBC

Machu Picchu tourist airlift ends with 1,300 flown out

Dan Collyns Tourism, Video January 30, 2010July 24, 2012Cusco, Helicopter, Machu Picchu, Peru

Police in Peru say they have airlifted the last of the tourists stranded near the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu after floods destroyed road and rail links.
Nearly 1,300 travellers were flown out by helicopters on Friday, a local policeman told the Associated Press.
A total of nearly 4,000 tourists and local residents have now left the area following last Sunday’s heavy flooding.

See the video on the BBC

A costly gold rush in the Amazon

Dan Collyns Environment, Video December 16, 2009July 24, 2012Environment, Gold, Mining, Peru, Rain Forest

In the heart of Peru’s rainforest, the pursuit of gold is pushing one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems to the brink of catastrophe.
Peru is the world’s sixth producer of the precious metal – but officials say almost a quarter of it is illegally mined.

See the video report on the BBC.

Anger at Peru quake rebuilding

Dan Collyns Environment, Video August 16, 2009July 24, 2012Chincha, Earthquake, Peru, Pisco

People in the southern Peruvian towns of Chincha and Pisco have marked the second anniversary of an earthquake which killed more than 500 inhabitants and destroyed thousands of homes.

Two years on, and there is anger among some residents that only 25% of the planned reconstruction has taken place in Pisco.

See the video on the BBC

Peru rebuilds two years on from quake

Dan Collyns Environment, Video August 15, 2009July 24, 2012Chincha, Earthquake, Marcial Blondet, Peru, Pisco

Since 1970, Peru has been hit by five powerful and deadly earthquakes. The latest struck Peru’s coast exactly two years ago with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale.

It fiercely shook the capital Lima, but its devastating epicentre was about 200km (124 miles) to the south, near the town of Pisco, a small fishing port built largely of adobe – mud bricks which Peruvians have used for thousands of years.

More than 500 people were killed and about 75,000 homes were left uninhabitable.

For Peruvian engineer Marcial Blondet, it was the devastating quake in 1970 that first motivated him to develop earthquake-resistant buildings, particularly for those who could least afford them.

Some 70,000 people died in the mountainous region of Huaraz, many of them in an avalanche of snow, ice and rock which obliterated the town of Yungay. It was the deadliest earthquake in Latin American history.

See the full article and video on the BBC