The vast salt pans of northern Chile's Atacama Desert have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list for their historical and cultural significance. These landscapes have been used by Indigenous Likanantai communities for millennia to harvest salt through sustainable evaporation techniques. The site includes ancient trade paths and ceremonial sites that reflect the spiritual importance of salt in Andean cultures.
The inscription seeks to protect these fragile ecosystems from the pressures of modern lithium mining. UNESCO emphasized that the traditional management of the salt pans represents a unique form of bio-cultural heritage that provides valuable lessons for modern water conservation in extremely arid environments.