Compliance with environmental obligations: challenges and opportunities regarding areas degraded by solid waste in the provinces of Abancay and Aymaraes, Apurímac region, Peru, as of 2024

Abstract

The Legislative Decree n.º 1278 (2017) establishes the obligation of the Peruvian State to restore areas degraded by solid waste, including open dumps and sanitary landfills at the end of their operational life. This provision acknowledges the need for comprehensive environmental management and assigns the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) the responsibility for identifying, recording, and monitoring these areas. The actions undertaken by OEFA to develop the national inventory of degraded areas were formally institutionalized through Board Resolution n.º 010-2022-OEFA/CD, strengthening its supervisory role and its capacity to implement environmental mitigation measures.
According to Resolution n.º 00024-2025-OEFA/DSIS, as of September 30, 2025, the inventory registers 3387 degraded areas or open dumps in Peru. More than 90 % of these areas fall under the responsibility of Local Governments, as reported by the Interactive Environmental Oversight Portal (PIFA). This scenario raises several key questions: What is the level of compliance with environmental obligations in the degraded areas of Abancay and Aymaraes in 2024? Does Peruvian regulation provide sufficient guidelines for mitigation and remediation? What are the estimated recovery costs, and which methodologies are employed to calculate them? How does the sustained increase in degraded areas affect environmental management, and what measures have been implemented for their control? What risks does the population face when acquiring land with environmental liabilities?
To address these questions, environmental supervision and enforcement reports issued by OEFA between 2018 and 2024 were analyzed, focusing on degraded areas managed by the Provincial Municipalities of Abancay and Aymaraes in the Apurímac region. The main objective of this research is to assess the degree of compliance with environmental obligations and to identify the key challenges and opportunities associated with the management and restoration of areas degraded by solid waste in both provinces during the year 2024.