People from the Chilean pampa are as proud as can be. UNESCO has recognized the international value of their heritage, inscribing their saltpeter culture and tradition as part of the organization's World Heritage List, by way of the old works of Humberstone and Santa Laura.

By Rosario Mena

The main reason for such an important nomination is based on the archaeological and industrial value that saltpeter industry had in the development of agriculture all over the world. The former offices of Humberstone and Santa Laura are now part of the same World Heritage list that Easter Island (Rapa Nui National Park), the Chiloe churches and Valparaiso got into before them. These two spots are 50 kms. East of the city of Iquique, separated by no more than 2 kms. one from the other. Their importance is not only from an architectural point of view, but also a geographical and social one, since they played a key role in the foundation of Chile's union movement. Both offices were also nominated among the world's most-at-risk sites, because of how vulnerable their constructions now are, and the need they have for State protection and conservation. The cost of their complete restoration work is estimated in five million dollars.

In the middle of one of the world's driest deserts, the drive, skills and effort of a small group of people got to build a complete universe that ended up being inhabited by 60 thousand people, all based around the extraction of saltpeter, the mineral that would go to fertilize agriculture fields all around the world. What happened with the transformation of these two towns was then considered to be a miracle, and that's something the UNESCO agree on. There was also an intense lobby work from the Foreign Office, and some restoration efforts made by the Saltpeter Museum Corporation (now in charge of its administration by way of a special law). The Ministry of Education presented a complete plan of management that also helped in UNESCO's decision.

"These are unique testimonies of saltpeter's times, way of life and production system. They go to show an unparalleled culture", says part of the written presentation prepared by the National Monuments Council.

"The saltpeter activity was forever damaged by the invention of synthetic nitrate and the Great Depression. It came to be a final blow, from which it never recovered. The way of life, the city planning and the processing systems were unique to this activity and are part of humankind's past".

Now one can find only part of the original installments, since they have been progressively dismantled, even after the Monuments Council declared them to be National Monuments, in 1970. There was endless looting and vandalism while they were under private administration. In 2002 they were auctioned and won back by the Chilean State, which has taken care of them through the Saltpeter Museum Corporation. It has been this institution the one to preserve and promote their patrimony, always considering about soon transforming it into a site-museum.