Pompeii and Herculaneum are located in the south of Naples on the western coast of Italy. They are two of the most stunning historic sites in the world and attract around 2.6 million tourists a year. However, with all this attention, many destructive problems have arisen, including tourism: "The sites have difficulty managing the balance between the needs of research and tourism, conservation and the needs of tourism, which is the main form of income", stealing/destroying the site and the effects of natural causes “The excavated sites at Pompeii and Herculaneum are still vast open-air museums, exposed to the forces of decay such as wind and water, which erode ancient cities” - 1996 Andrew Wallace. Furthermore, many conservation methods have been used in modern times to counteract this destruction, yet some of these destructive problems still remain. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Tourism has had a destructive effect on Pompeii and Herculaneum causing damage. Furthermore, over the years of exposure, the level of tourism in Pompeii and Herculaneum has increased significantly: 2 million tourists per year in 1998, 2.2 million in 2001, 2.5 million in 2005, Herculaneum receives 500,000. Furthermore, with the constant increase in tourists, many destructive complications began to occur. Furthermore, there are no panoramic or pedestrian platforms with consequent damage to paths and stepping stones (an example of this is the Pompeian forum and Via dell Abudanzza). Another problem plaguing Pompeii and Herculaneum is the lack of facilities such as; toilets, food and garbage disposals. Furthermore, tourists who do not have access to a garbage disposal could choose to dispose of them within the park of Pompeii or Herculaneum. Over time this pollution accumulates and begins to affect the ancient site, corroding and wearing it down. Furthermore, the management of Pompeii itself is a problem as the wrong areas are not addressed. “They have identified emergencies that have nothing to do with the real problems of Pompeii” Circo Marino (union manager/caretaker). As the wrong areas were addressed, other problems came to light, including no controls on visitors, lack of guards, tourists walking freely touching, leaning and taking flash photographs. “No ordinary maintenance and scheduled conservation interventions are carried out in Pompeii. This is the problem” -Guzzo. Furthermore, if no monitoring of visitors has been carried out, the number of people present on the site will be unknown. This could potentially lead to people hiding/staying in the field of view and damaging/stealing the field of view. Furthermore, the lack of guards (only 150) leaves some areas of the sites unsupervised, resulting in vandalism/theft of ancient sites. Furthermore, tourists have too much freedom, resulting in the ability to touch, lean on, and take flash photographs of the ancient site. These factors slowly but surely wear down the ancient site, destroying it over time. “Sites struggle to manage the balance between research and tourism needs, conservation and tourism needs” Andrew Wallace. Destroying/stealing had a destructive effect on Pompeii and Herculaneum causing damage. Furthermore, during the many years that Pompeii and Herculaneum were exposed, various parts of the site were stolen, vandalized, and even destroyed. People naively think that taking small pieces of tiles, mosaics and rocks from the site of Pompeii and Herculaneum has no effect. However, by doing so, the originality and authenticity of the site is destroyed. Furthermore, from 1975 to 2000 they wereAround 600 objects were stolen from both Herculaneum and Pompeii. Furthermore, Pompeii and Herculaneum have also been vandalized by people inscribing modern graffiti on the walls and theft of frescoes—“It was recently reported that a fresco was stolen from Pompeii”—preservation. This destroys the uniqueness and reliability of the site as some modern writings will not be able to read and will be difficult to interact with. Furthermore, parts of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed, unfortunately leaving gaps within the site (House of the Chaste Lovers). Furthermore, the Maffia (Camorra) has access to many areas of Pompeii/Herculaneum such as guards, conservation and preservation. An example of this is when two frescoes were removed from the wall of the House of the Chaste Lovers. Territorial Cohesion Minister Fabrizio Barca said Pompeii's problems stem from its status as "one of the largest and most important sites in the world and its location in one of the areas with the highest concentration of organized crime in all of Europe" - author unknown. To prevent people from destroying/stealing parts of Pompeii and Herculaneum, new metal fences have been installed along the main roads of the site to prevent tourists/people from entering. This minimizes the risk of people stealing or damaging property within the two sites. Natural causes had a destructive effect on Pompeii and Herculaneum causing damage. Furthermore, over the years of exposure, "The excavated sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum are still vast open-air museums, exposed to the forces of decay such as wind and water, which erode ancient cities." -Andrew Wallace. Furthermore, natural causes such as vegetation have become a major problem in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Ivy, fennel, fig and valerian have spread naturally across the site causing cracks in roofs, walls, gaps in mosaic floors and building foundations (as exhibited in the Villa dei Papiri). Furthermore, another source that causes natural damage in Pompeii and Herculaneum is animals. Hundreds of wild dogs live in Pompeii and Herculaneum causing damage to streets and walls. Furthermore, multiple procedures have been introduced to combat the natural causes that threaten Pompeii and Herculaneum. A program called adopt a dog was introduced in 2009 by Maria Rosaria Salvatore and is starting to have a positive effect as it is decreasing the number of stray dogs in Pompeii and Herculaneum thus minimizing the amount of damage caused. Furthermore, around 400 pigeons nest between the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. These pigeons have a serious impact on the two sites as their droppings are highly acidic, causing the destruction of the frescoes. There were also two Harris hawks released in 2005 to try to prevent pigeons from nesting, thus decreasing the amount of frescoes destroyed. Furthermore, over the years weather conditions have had a huge impact on the conditions of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Since 1738, heavy rains (floods) and strong winds have caused the collapse of many buildings and the fall of walls: “Pompeii has always been an emergency since it was first excavated in 1748, the current archaeological director of the site . The most recent crisis phase began in November 2010, when the so-called Schola Armaturarum, which housed an ancient military order, collapsed to the ground after a period of torrential rain” - Grete Stefani. Furthermore, frequent earthquakes are a common problem in Pompeii and Herculaneum causing cracks in monuments and the destruction of buildings. Furthermore, exposure to sunlight is slowly but surely fading many frescoes in Herculaneum and Pompeii. To protect the frescoes, copies were made so that one day they would be completely faded by the light (e.g. Alexander Mosaic). In times”-