Potencial para o geoturismo do município de Gurjão/PB a partir da avaliação de seus geossítios e da percepção da comunidade

Abstract

It is through a holistic view of the environmental components that it can be achieved the most effective way so it can occur a skillful planning of tourism which will provide the minimum possible impact on the environment. Considering the fact that geodiversity is quite targeted by tourism, geotourism highlights aspects of the physical environment, often neglected to the detriment of biodiversity, and promotes the disclosure of the information of the geological context in an accessible language to the lay public in interpreting geological patrimony that reveals itself as a potential touristic attraction and encourages the conservation of these sites. Given the geopatrimony capability that the municipality of Gurjão / PB shows, it is necessary to establish planning measures for sustainable use of the property. In that perspective, this study has as its general objective to analyze the elements of geodiversity and its role in the viability of tourism in the municipality of Gurjão / PB. As specific objectives: describe the touristic attractions associated to the geodiversity elements; present the qualitative and quantitative valuation of geosites; and identify the perception of the local population (teachers and residents) regarding the aspects related to geotourism, the ppossible uses of the geosites and the possible socio-economic effects of the geoturistic activity in the municipality. The methodological procedures that were used involve data collection in the field, application of forms in the inventory, preparation of spreadsheets and application of questionnaires. For the touristic inventorying, forms were adopted from the "Inventory of Touristic Offer" (2011) of the Tourism Ministry. The geosites were valued qualitatively using the criteria proposed by Gray (2004). The method developed by Pereira (2010) was used to obtain the value in quantitative terms of the geosites with exclusive focus on the touristic and use/management values. To identify the perception of the local population about the possible socio-economic effects of geotourism it was performed two approaches to two groups; teachers and residents. The technique utilized to achieve the last specific objective was the interview with a direct approach with the application of previously elaborated questionnaires. The inventory, valuation and quantification of the natural attractions evidenced that the geotourism can be potentially developed in Gurjão / PB, although it has been identified several gaps regarding the infrastructure of the locations and the lack of public interest /knowledge in the protection and appreciation of such sites. It is verified that the perception of the local population about the possible socio-economic effects of geotourism in the municipality of Gurjão is predominantly positive conjecturing the benefits that the activity can generate, being primarily associated to the generation of new jobs, increase in the number of vacancies, improvement of the city infrastructure, quality of life and appreciation of the natural local heritage. Therefore, it is expected that the research contribute to "the awakening" of residents, public managers and institutions aware of the value of the local geodiversity and the benefits that the geoturism can bring.