Evaluation of Geotourism Potential of the Geopark Proposal Quarta Colônia / Rio Grande Do Sul

Abstract

Geotourism allows a new look at the tourist visitation of natural environments, going beyond the contemplation of the landscape, allowing the interpretation of the geoheritage visited. It is characterized as an activity capable of contributing not only to geoheritage promotion and conservation, but also to the local development of the community where this activity takes place. The present work reports a proposal of quantification of geoheritage of the Quarta Colônia, located in the central portion of Rio Grande do Sul, with evaluation of the geotourism utilization index and the risk of degradation. After the evaluation it was possible to identify that, 24 geosites can be considered suitable for geotourism use, while 19 geosites still need more investments for their better use, despite the fact that all geosites have potential for the development of geotourism and geoconservation strategies. The variation of results points to the need for primary intervention measures and public policies that improve management.