Allying the cultural heritage to geoheritage: a geotouristic coastal itineray in the municipality of Cabedelo, Paraíba (northeast of Brazil)

Abstract

The coastal environment is an area of conflict, where the marine dynamics intertwine with the tourist flow, originating, from the environmental point of view, an unstable space, in which the impacts are potentially bigger. Due to this, it requires a intense planning aimed at its protection. Paradoxically, coastal environments are areas of great geotouristic potential precisely for this natural dynamics that gives them its scientific value. The municipality of Cabedelo, State of Paraíba, corresponds to an extensive sandbank bordered to the west by the Paraíba River and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. This article proposes a geotouristic itinerary that includes four places of geotouristic interest. These places of interest are: Red Sand, a sandbank, deposited on beach sandstones, which emerge at low tides; the Ruins of Almagre, remains of a Jesuit church, dating from the 16^th century, built with limestone and ironstone; the Fortress of Cabedelo, remnant of the defensive triangle built by the Portuguese, in the end of the 16^th century, which used the same geo-resources present at Almagre and; Jacaré Beach, from where it is possible to observe extensive mangroves, on its bank, and large river terraces, filled with sugar cane fields, on the opposite bank. The existence of interpretative trails assigns a new function, now from the geotouristic point of view, to the itineraries, as they enrich the experience of tourists, to whom is given the opportunity of knowing the abiotic heritage and the cultural heritage from another perspective, apart from enhancing their environmental awareness.