COVID-🗿

When the natives of Easter Island realized that with closed borders during the coronavirus pandemic they could no longer depend on tourism for their survival; as a result, they switched to tapu, an ancient Polynesian tradition that is based on protecting their health, their lives, and their elders’ wisdom, with spiritual restrictions and shared prohibitions at its core.

In the long term, COVID-🗿could be a blessing in disguise for Easter Island—which relies so heavily on mainland Chile for food, and its 100,000-odd annual tourists for income—to be self-sustainable and waste-free.

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