Valoración ambiental de geositios en el marco del geoturismo, en la provincia del Guayas.

Abstract

The urban area of Guayaquil has sites that require special attention for the maintenance of the natural resources of the sites of tourist interest. The objective of this work was to carry out an environmental assessment through several attributes considered in a cause-effect matrix, to determine the environmental status of four geosites in order to promote sustainable tourism development. The methodology applied was: i) selection of four strategic geosites, ii) application of the cause-effect matrix by experts and visitor surveys, and iii) proposal of suitable measures recommended for each site. The results obtained from the cause-effect matrix reflected the most relevant aspects to be considered such as energy consumption, noise and vibration perception, wastewater generation or presence, maintenance of the geosite's health conditions, and waste generation for the development of geoconservation guidelines, On the other hand, the visitors' perspective reflected that many of the aspects are seen with a medium intensity and a local extension, and regarding the comparison of both perspectives, both obtained similar values in the parameters of intensity and extension which reflect that the sites analyzed are potential for tourism development, however, several guidelines should be implemented to maximize the positive aspects and minimize the negative ones. It was concluded that, of the 22 aspects identified, 5 of them were the most representative and should be addressed through guidelines that promote geoconservation in the sites of interest.