Which Chilean national park protects the Moai statues on Easter Island?

The Chilean national park protecting the Moai statues on Easter Island is Rapa Nui National Park.

Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name for Easter Island, while Chileans commonly call the island Isla de Pascua. The park protects much of the island’s archaeological landscape, including the monumental moai carved by the Rapa Nui people. These statues represented revered ancestors and were generally placed on ceremonial platforms called ahu.

Many moai were carved from yellow-brown volcanic tuff at the quarry of Rano Raraku, where unfinished statues remain embedded in the slopes. The statues vary greatly in size, and some stand about 20 metres tall. Although popularly called heads, many have bodies that extend below the ground or are partly buried by accumulated soil.

The park was established in 1935 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Administration was transferred to the Indigenous Ma’u Henua community in 2017. The park is not the same as a Chilean mainland park such as Lauca or Torres del Paine: it is an island cultural landscape whose archaeological heritage is its defining feature.