Chances of geotourism development in the Colca and the volcanoes of Andagua Geopark (Peru)

Abstract

The areas of the Colca Canyon and the Valley of the Volcanoes, located in the Arequipa region in the Central Andes, southern Peru, are distinguished for their unique geodiversity in the whole planet scale [10]. Currently, the INGEMMET Institute has submitted a proposal to designate the area as a geopark belonging to the UNESCO network [13]. The designation of the Colca and the Volcanoes of Andagua Geopark brings new opportunities to develop tourism. Inventory of geosites includes numerous geomorphological, geodynamic, volcanic, structural, tectonic, hydrogeological, sedimentological, palaeontological, stratigraphic, and palaeogeographical sites. Indication of accessibility of those sites will be an important stage of tourism development. The paper uses the results of research of the Polish Scientific Expedition to Peru, which since 2003 has been conducting extensive geological and environmental studies to document the values of the area. On the basis of spatial analyses, the conditions and limitations of making the geological sites accessible have been evaluated in regard to nature protection. It was a serious challenge to define the boundaries of usage of different environmental resources. Apart from the tourist industry, there are also other activities in the area, such as mining, agriculture, hydrotechnical and energy investments on a supra-local scale It is an urgent matter to define the rules of coexistence of different economic entities within the area of the future geopark.