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Loma Amarilla, located on Monte de los Olivos Avenue and in sector 3.1 of Surco, is a space that houses an ecosystem of birds and trees. On the side, the municipality is carrying out the construction of the Municipal School of Arts, which has generated complaints from the neighbors.
“The only coastal hill that survives urban development is Loma Amarilla,” said leader
For several years, different works have been carried out in the Loma Amarilla ecological park, which has led to the loss of part of its extension, warned María Yolanda Gonzales Gamarra, environmental manager and president of the neighborhood board of the Prolongación Benavides urbanization in Surco.
“The only coastal hill that survives urban development is Loma Amarilla. The mayors who have managed Loma Amarilla have tended to develop buildings. Little by little it has been destroyed and the hill has been left without its base,” the neighbor told El Comercio.
“The Loma Amarilla ecosystem is very important for endemic species, such as birds and insects,” she added.
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She also indicated that the authorities should recognize Loma Amarilla as an area of influence and buffering of the Villa Wetlands, as it represents a transit point for birds and is related to the Colorado, Negro, Centinela, Camacho, and San Francisco hills.
She emphasized that neighbors have submitted documents to different agencies to act on the Loma Amarilla case, but only the Ecological Police has intervened, which has conducted an inventory of the number of trees in the place. “In recent years, the annihilation of Loma Amarilla has begun, watering and nutrient application have stopped, more than 250 cats have been allowed to live there, and three cell phone antennas have been installed,” the neighbor told this newspaper.
She recalled that Loma Amarilla was previously classified as a protection and landscape treatment zone by the Metropolitan Planning Institute, but then the zoning was changed due to the passivity of the authorities, and it currently has the designation of an economic ecological zone.
“The use is changed (an area) to build buildings and constructions. If we have municipal governments linked to the construction sector, real estate, growth, and building development, and we have Loma Amarilla as decoration, then we will get nothing,” she pointed out.
“It should be given an ecological environmental value, with its own ecosystem. The value should be given by the Ministry of Environment, Serfor, OEFA, and many other agencies linked to its protection, but they do not do it,” she added.
Gonzales Gamarra denounced that many neighbors abandon their cats in the Loma Amarilla park because there is a breeding space for these animals, so she demanded that security cameras be used to identify and sanction these people.
They are cutting part of Loma Amarilla, says neighbor
Juan Palma Aurazo, a neighbor of Surco and candidate for the municipality of that district, indicated that the works carried out by the municipality to build the Municipal School of Arts have included cutting part of the Loma Amarilla park. “What we want is for the project not to ruin the natural ecosystem of the hill,” the neighbor told El Comercio.
“Where Loma de los Suspiros was, they have removed the serenazgo base to build a cultural venue. No one is against that type of project, the problem is that they have started with excavators to cut part of the hill. By municipal ordinance, the intangibility of Loma Amarilla had been decreed. They have cut part of the hill and it has been crumbling; now they try to solve the issue with some retaining walls,” Palma said.
Palma’s main fear is that, with the work being carried out in Loma Amarilla, the arrival of migratory birds to that point will continue to be affected. He assured that in recent years the number of birds has decreased due to the presence of cats in the park.
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In this context, Palma emphasized that the Loma Amarilla park is also used by many neighbors for sports, but they are often affected by the smell of cat excrement, as he indicated that constant cleaning is not done.
“Loma Amarilla used to be a resting point for birds migrating from one place to another, but currently, under the figure that we are animal lovers, what has been allowed is for all people to abandon cats in the park; however, we no longer have birds. There are many other places in Surco where this type of shelter (for cats) could be located. If you go up the hill, you see that they have made a kind of cat shelter, which is a small house for cats, but the smell is nauseating because they do not clean it. For appearances, they are animal lovers, but they do not do daily maintenance,” he said.
The neighbor indicated that the Municipality of Surco has not informed the neighbors about the project being carried out on what was a serenazgo base; in fact, according to him, many leaders living around the park only found out about the work when they saw the machinery on site.
“It is done hastily. Before destroying the serenazgo base, neighbors should have been informed about the project’s intention; they simply destroyed the serenazgo base, started digging part of the hill, and when the hill was crumbling, they fenced the area and put up a sign showing how the venue will look. There is zero project awareness; the neighbor’s opinion does not matter,” he asserted.
He also requested permanent watering of the trees and that water distribution be done through a modern irrigation system and not by flooding. “What we want is the maintenance of the hill, that the watering be mechanized and not by flooding, that its watering is not so archaic; we cannot continue with that watering technique,” he added.
Palma recalled that in February 2025, he opposed a first project that the municipality intended to carry out in Loma Amarilla, as it contemplated, according to him, implementing “a small zonal park” with cafes and viewpoints.
The response from Surco
The Municipality of Surco supported its position on the Loma Amarilla case through responses to a questionnaire sent to it.
1. What project is planned in an area adjacent to the Loma Amarilla Ecological Park and will any green area or the ecosystem of the place be affected?
On a plot adjacent and located outside the polygon declared as an intangible zone of the Loma Amarilla Ecological Park, the Municipality of Santiago de Surco is building the new Municipal School of Arts (EMA), a space intended for the training of children and young people in disciplines such as music, theater, singing, dance, ceramics, and other artistic expressions. As part of the work, a retaining wall is being built, whose purpose is to guarantee the stability of the land and provide safety to the infrastructure. The interventions are carried out within the authorized project area, according to the technical file, and do not include work within the intangible zone of the Loma Amarilla Ecological Park nor affect the protected ecosystem.
2. Do the construction works involve excavation of part of Loma Amarilla, as some neighbors claim?
The excavations correspond only to the area where the Municipal School of Arts project is being developed and are part of the work typical of an infrastructure project. It is important to clarify that these works are carried out outside the polygon declared as an intangible zone of the Loma Amarilla Ecological Park, so there is no intervention in the protected area.
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3. Does the project being executed require approval or supervision from another state entity?
The project is carried out within the framework of the competencies of the Municipality of Santiago de Surco and in accordance with the current regulations applicable to this type of public infrastructure.
4. Has the project been disseminated among the neighbors?
Yes. The Municipality has informed about the project through different institutional channels, including the installation of information panels in the area, publications on social networks, as well as meetings with the presidents of the community boards, in which the main projects and advances of the municipal management are presented.
5. What care is provided to the cats living in the park and is their population controlled?
The Municipality has a cat shelter located in the upper part of the Loma Amarilla Ecological Park, where approximately 60 cats are currently housed. Likewise, sterilization campaigns, veterinary care, and population control are permanently carried out to promote animal welfare and maintain an adequate sanitary balance.
6. Does the Loma Amarilla Ecological Park have intangible status?
Yes. The Loma Amarilla Ecological Park has an approximate polygon of 35,000 square meters declared as an intangible zone, which receives special treatment aimed at its conservation. The Municipal School of Arts is being built outside that polygon, so the works are not carried out within the protected area.
7. Does the Municipality of Santiago de Surco plan to expand green areas in Loma Amarilla?
Yes. The Municipality continues to carry out actions to improve the environment of the Loma Amarilla Ecological Park and increase its green areas. As part of these interventions, the access to the Neighbor’s Club was landscaped by incorporating approximately 800 m² of new green areas, contributing to improving accessibility, urban image, and environmental conditions of the park
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