📋 Tender Overview
The field works carried out in Ayacucho are revealing a wide variety of geosites with scientific, educational and tourist value, such as hot springs, valleys and cannons in volcanic rocks.Ayacucho, May 2025. The Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute (INGEMMET), through its national project Geological Heritage and Geotourism, has initiated a detailed study of the geological heritage in the south of the department of Ayacucho, with the aim of identifying the most representative geological interests of its geodiversity and tourist potential.
This work is part of the activities of the Directorate of Environmental Geology and Geological Risk for the period 2025-2026. It seeks to register the places of geological interest (ligs) or geosites that present a high value in relation to any of the disciplines of geology - power are being rock formations, failures, thermal springs, volcanic landscapes among many others - that have a value and potential for use in scientific, educational and geotourism activities.
The Ingemmet team began field work in the provinces of Huanca Sancos, Lucanas, Parinacochas, Paucar del Sara Sara and Sucre. There is the direct verification of the previously selected sites in Cabinet (pre-inventory), developing technical chips that describe its most relevant characteristics. In addition, its subsequent assessment allows identifying which geosites can be promoted as geotouristic resources, promoting an attractive offer for visitors interested in knowing the geological history of our country.
During the field work, this project is socialized to local authorities, who provide valuable information about other possible tourist resources linked to geology. This interaction seeks to integrate scientific knowledge with the planning of local tourism, promoting the sustainable use of the territory.
Some geotourism beauties to meet
Among the prominent sites is the thermal emergence of Pachapumpu, where you can see a unique and exceptional manifestation of the geothermal activity, where small natural pools and structures such as sinter terraces (mineral formations created by the precipitation of hot water), as well as minicraters and rocky outcrops that make up a unique landscape admired by visitors.
Also stand out the Valley of the Sondondo, and adjacent populations such as Cabana, Andamarca, among others with various landscapes: pre -Hispanic Andeneries; Lagoons that show an important geodynamic activity (failures and landslides, which gave rise to them) and where an important population settled.
It stands out between the evaluated to date, cataracts, cannons, eroded slopes with very colorful landscapes, syntral terraces and convex formations on the margins of the Sondondo River; Minicraters; Multiple the hot springs along the valleys of Sondondo and Tax (Mayobamba) used as thermal baths.
Geotourism, explains the ingemmet team, is a form of sustainable tourism that values the geology of a place, as well as its biodiversity and its culture. It promotes the conservation of natural heritage and can become an engine of economic development, especially for rural communities.
As the governing body of geology, Ingemmet will continue to promote the knowledge and conservation of the geological interests that constitute the national geological heritage, promoting the development of geotourism with the firm purpose of linking geology, landscape, culture and populations, contributing to the development of geotourism in the national territory.
