Geotourism assessment at municipal scale in Costa Rica

The inventory and evaluation of geosites throughout the world have been increasing. These approaches constitute the baseline for geoconservation and geotourism projects. In Costa Rica, initiatives presenting inventories of geomorphosites in volcanic and paleoglacial environments are recent. This work aims to present an inventory and evaluation of geosites in Coto Brus municipality. This is an initiative of the Municipality of Coto Brus to develop an inventory of its natural attractions to support the creation of tourist routes within the framework of the OVOP (One Village One Product) Coto Brus project. Many of these natural attractions are geosites such as waterfalls, paleontological sites, archaeological sites, wetlands, extinct volcanoes, and paleoglacial summits which exhibit a rich geodiversity. Our methodology was based mainly on Santos et al. (2020) and Reynard et al. (2016). The geomorphological context of Coto Brus was made using GIS and existing bibliography. Moreover, we consulted local tourism web pages, tourist guides and bibliographic consultation obtaining a preliminary list of geosites. A preliminary evaluation was used for the non-inclusion of irrelevant sites in the final inventory. Sites with high values for geosciences and high rarity were included. A characterization of its geomorphological aspects, associated interests, use, and management issues was carried out in each geosite through descriptive tables. A quantitative evaluation of its potential for scientific, educational, geotourism use, and its potential for promotion was used. A thematic map was generated with the location of the geosites associated with the results of the quantitative evaluation. Finally, the results of the inventory and evaluation of geosites are articulated with the promotion of tourist routes within the framework of the OVOP Coto Brus project through recommendations and proposals for use, management, and degradation risks. It is a quick decision-making tool that will allow stakeholders to identify the main values of each geosite.