Have you heard about that the Nazca Lines, which is worldwide famous heritage, was damaged by a ‘dump truck driver’?

The Nazca Lines that is the global cultural heritage in Peru.

Considered to have a history of 1,500 to 2,000 years, it consists of 370 giant paints of plants and animals on the coastal desert, and was designated as the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

But there was a shocking case that the Nazca Lines, which is the world-renowned heritage in Peru, was damaged by a truck.

In 2018, the driver broke into the Nazca Preserve without permission, ignoring a warning sign.

As a result, three patterns of the Nazca Lines were damaged due to the wheel tracks remained deep in the area of 50m-wide and 100m-long.

The driver, who did the ridiculous act, made an excuse that he had left from the road and enter the Nazca Preserve to check for the tires of truck.

In the end, the heritage of humankind was damaged by the ‘dump truck driver’ who ignored the warning sign.

But, similar ridiculous case is happening in the Republic of Korea in June 2020.

You have most probably heard about a brand of Lego which is famous for toys for children around the world. Not only the child’s toys, but Lego also operates several Legoland Parks in the world.

Merlin Entertainment, the operator of the Legoland Parks, manages 70 attractions in 17 countries including several heritage sites in the UK such as Warwick Castle, Madame Tussauds in London and Blackpool, Sea Life Blackpool and National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham.

In May, 2020, the Gangwon-do provincial government signed an agreement with Merlin Entertainment.

Based on the agreement, Merlin Entertainment is going to build the Legoland on a 1.06 million square meter archaeological site, which is planned to be built by 2021.

Also, the complex will include a theme park, resort facilities and shopping facilities, at the cost of 300 billion won, or about US $265 million.

Merlin Entertainment, the operator of Legoland, and Gangwon-do Province in the Republic of Korea are building Legoland on the area where the large-scale of archaeological heritage – size of 1.06 million square meter – has been demolished.

The issue on the destruction of the Jungdo historic site is the one of all humankind, not of the Republic of Korea.

Jungdo is very unique and remarkable prehistoric site where 9,000 relics, 1,266 house sites and 149 tombs of the prehistoric period have been excavated so far.

In particular, in the excavation of buried cultural assets, the dwellings and agricultural remains of the Bronze Age such as dolmens, housing sites and large-scale ditch to protect the village have been discovered, which will mark a milestone in the research on the Bronze Age in the world.

Therefore, if the construction of Legoland is continued, the remarkable prehistoric relics that have not been found yet will be destroyed under the ground.

Even, its developer is suspected of dumping the construction waste in Jungdo, and has not complied with the preservation guidelines of the cultural heritage while its construction.

A group of 48 dolmens in Jungdo, which is unusual to find such amount of dolmens in one area, is carried in plastic bags, and even some of them are treated as miscellaneous stones.

So, the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, VANK that consists of 150,000 volunteers from primary to university students made global promotional posters to globally introduce the issue that the biggest remains of the Bronze Age in the Korean Peninsula have been destroyed by the construction of Legoland.

The posters are composed of the contents to draw the attention of world citizens by giving a question that ‘what would you do if Legoland is built after demolishing worldwide heritage such as the Stonehenge in the United Kingdom, the Parthenon in Greece, the Pyramid in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, the Palace of Versailles in France, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and Machu Picchu in Peru?, and are linked to the website explaining the Jungdo historic site in the Republic of Korea.

The members of VANK are doing the campaign to globally promote the digital posters through social media with a hash tag of #ProtectCulturalHeritage.

Also, they are planning to various global campaigns to spread the issue of destruction of world heritage all over the world, like Jungdo issue of the Republic of Korea.

If there is any cultural heritage damaged by something in your regions, cities, nations, or in the world, please let us know about it with a hasg tag of #ProtectCulturalHeritage!

The action to protect and preserve cultural heritage can be started with your photo and hash tags!