Coastal Scenic Evaluation of Continental Ecuador and Galapagos Islands: Human Impacts and Management Issues

The scenery, safety, facilities, water quality and litter quantities in coastal areas are relevant and determining elements in the choice of a tourist destination. This paper focused on the evaluation of coastal scenic value in 55 and 12 sites respectively located in continental Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. The information obtained gives public administrators and coastal managers the relevant data to avoid further environmental degradation and suggests measures to improve the present scenic value of tourist destinations. The methodology used was based on the analysis of 26 physical/human factors and applied fuzzy logic analysis and weighting matrices that allowed the sites to be classified into five classes, from Class I (natural areas with superior scenic characteristics) to Class V (poor scenic areas with relevant impact of human interventions). The most attractive beaches were in the Galapagos Islands due to the magnificent physical and environmental characteristics, while the Esmeraldas province presented sites of lower scenic beauty due to the low natural scenic value and the increase of human impacts. In total, 22% (15 out of 67) of the beaches investigated belonged to Class I, 12% (8) to Class II and 15% (10) to Class III. The last two classes included 51% of the beaches (i.e., 34 out of 67), of which 31% (21) was in Class IV and 20% (13) in Class V. Such results provide local managers and planners a solid inventory on coastal scenic characteristics and baseline information for any envisaged subsequent management plan.

Associação entre valor cênico, turismo, religião e cultura na paisagem do Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais / Association between scenic value, tourism, religion and culture on the landscape (...)

A ideia para elaboração do presente trabalho surgiu a partir do convite da Sociedade Brasileira de Espeleologia para elaboração de um capítulo sobre o valor cênico, turismo e religião em regiões que apresentam cavernas desenvolvidas em formações ferríferas. A partir da ideia inicial, decidiu-se ampliar o tema para que pudéssemos incluir, também, aspectos culturais da paisagem em uma região específica como a do Quadrilátero Ferrífero (QF), em Minas Gerais. Assim, tem-se como objetivo principal da pesquisa demonstrar a possibilidade de associação entre o valor cênico, turismo, religião e cultura no QF por meio da indicação de exemplos selecionados. Palavras-chave: Valor cênico, turismo, religião, cultura, Quadrilátero Ferrífero ABSTRACTThe idea of this paper emerged after the invitation by the Brazilian Society of Speleology for preparation of a chapter on the scenic value, tourism and religion in regions with caves developed in banded iron formations. From the initial idea, the author decided to expand the theme here so one could include the cultural aspects of the landscape in a specific region such as the Iron Quadrangle (Quadrilátero Ferrífero), in Minas Gerais. Thus, the main objective of this study is to demonstrate the possible association between the scenic value of a landscape together with tourism, religion and culture by indicating selected examples, especially in the QF. Keywords: scenic value, tourism, religion, culture, Quadrilátero Ferrífero