Geoturismo no Parque Estadual Forno Grande Espírito Santo: impactos gerados pelo isolamento social da COVID19

Abstract (English)

Protected Areas contribute to the preservation of natural resources, promoting the implementation of activities related to ecological and geological tourism. The objective was to characterize the main geotouristic and ecotouristic attractions of the Forno Grande State Park (Parque Estadual Forno Grande — PEFG) and to evaluate the environmental impacts on the stretch of the trail from the Visitor Center to the Yellow Wells, resulting from the visitation before the COVID-19 pandemic and absence of visitation for four months during the pandemic. For this, we sought to describe, based on in situ observations and bibliographic consultation, the geosystemic aspects of the PEFG. For the evaluation of environmental impacts, the check-list method performed on February 27th and July 26th, 2020 was used. From the first evaluation, points with water accumulation, damaged stringers, erosion grooves, root exposure, and soil compaction were identified. In the second evaluation, some positive impacts were verified, especially in relation to the amount of litter deposited on the trail floor. On the other hand, there was a greater accumulation of plant remains in the trail corridor, due to the lack of visitation. In some of the stretches, a reduction in the size of erosion grooves was observed. There was also more evidence of the presence of wild animals, such as footprints and excrement along the trail. Therefore, there are challenges to be faced for the geoconservation of the PEFG, which include a multidisciplinary and holistic vision aiming to achieve sustainability through geotourism and in the expectation that it can contribute to the preservation of the biotic and abiotic environment.