Rapid impact assessment on touristic caves of Terra Ronca State Park, Goiás, Brazil

Abstract

Terra Ronca State Park is located in the municipalities of São Domingos and Guarani de Goiás. The tourist motivation in the region is related to geotourism, especially with the visit to the caves. Karst environments have their own dynamics, which create unique environments. Aiming at the conservation of these environments, environmental diagnostic tools are employed focusing on the existing impacts in the area. The research occurred in 4 caves of Terra Ronca State Park, and an impact assessment protocol was applied, developed by Donato et al. (2014), to diagnose the situation of caves open to tourism in the park, reaching the following impact values: São Mateus - 21, São Bernardo - 29, Terra Ronca II - 34 and Terra Ronca - 40. The results showed that the caves are at risk and susceptible to several impacts, requiring urgent measures for the conservation of the environments associated with them. Implementation of the specific management plan for each cave is urgent, as this document is fundamental to guide the management and monitoring actions of the caves in question. It is important to highlight that in addition to such initiatives it is necessary to establish parallel programs of education and diffusion of the importance of these geosystems, providing knowledge of the general society about caves and their conservation.