Rumors That Disney Will Build New Park in Peru Spark Debate

Earlier this month, one of Peru’s major newspapers reported that Disney might open a park about an hour south of Lima on Peru’s coast. Would a Disney theme park be good or bad for Peru?

That’s the question that is now on many peoples’ minds. Comment threads on popular Peruvian and expatriate websites show a diversity of opinions. Some people think a Disney theme park would be great for providing jobs in a country that needs them, while others think it would amount to exploitation.

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But it’s not even a sure thing that Disney will build a park in Peru. Reports indicate that last year Disney attempted to buy Lima’s Parque de Las Leyendas (Park of legends): the country’s major zoo that is built around archaeological sites. Disney’s offer was turned down by Peru’s National Institute of Culture, who recognized the importance of protecting the country’s cultural assets. The latest round of reports (or rumors) suggest that Disney is eyeing land south of Lima, near the beach known as “Asia.” A Disney representative has curtly denied the reports, although this denial could most likely be a strategic business move.

What’s interesting to me is that many of the comments on Peruvian news sites stress the economic merits of the Disney possibility for Peru, but fail to discuss another important issue. From Disney’s perspective, it’s not hard to imagine why Peru would be a good location for a park, given its central location in South America, positive relationship with the United States, and cheap labor. But I personally wonder about the environmental issues that would be created by building a new theme park. Would Disney be good stewards of the environment in Peru?

As mentioned, the potential park would be located along Peru’s coast, which is also one of the driest deserts in the world. In other words, from Disney’s perspective they probably see the beach and ocean as great for tourists, and the desert as an area of land no one cares about anyway (if it’s not obvious, I don’t think the desert is a wasteland). Like one of my colleagues, I’m skeptical that Disney would do a good job protecting the environment given their history, and despite their recent effort to release a plan that would make green standards part of the company’s corporate responsibilities.

My thinking is that Disney would have a tremendous number of questions to answer. For instance, where’s all the toilet water going to go? Not in the ocean I hope. The Humboldt current off of Peru’s coast is thought to help produce 20% of the world’s fish. And how is Disney going to purify water for its guests without carting in millions of plastic bottles that also might end up in the ocean or desert, or even the Amazon? And let’s not forget that there would be a huge need to provide transportation south from Lima in a way that would help curb air pollution in a city where traffic officers must now wear gas masks.

Even with my environmental concerns, I also feel a personal dilemma summed up by this question: should Peru give a shit about going green? More specifically, how can you argue against a possibility that might mean thousands of additional jobs for people that really need them in a developing country (without providing a better alternative)? Would the wages Disney provides be good for Peruvians, or indeed just another way for an American company to exploit people in a developing country?

So that’s what’s on my mind. What are your thoughts on Disney building a new theme park in Peru?

Photo Credit: Thomas Jung on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

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