Last October 13 a clean-up of the Vilcanota - Urubamba river was carried out along the Sacred Valley of the Incas. This event was sponsored by the Consejo Nacional del Ambiente (CONAM), the Municipalidad Provincial de Cusco, the Universidad Andina, the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad, the Dirección Regional de Turismo, the Asociación Peruana de Operadores de Turismo de Aventura y Ecoturismo - APTAE, as well as diverse tourist agencies and leading locally-based companies of the private sector.

On that day, 6,000 school children together with several river guides collected, from rafts and kayaks, close to 5,000 kilos of waste, most of it comprising plastic in the diversest forms (bags, bottles, etc.), starting from close to Pichincoto up to Huayras Punku in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

In spite that a vast amount of waste still remains to be picked up, it is expected that this initiative is carried out more regularly. For instance, it would be highly recommendable that a new clean-up of the Huatanay river be carried out as soon as possible, considering that this main tributary of the Urubamba river has unfortunately become the largest collector of used waters discharged by the Imperial City of Cusco.