A Step towards a Sustainable Tourism in Apennine Mountain Areas: A Proposal of Geoitinerary across the Matese Mountains (Central-Southern Italy)

Francesca Filocamo,Vincenzo Amato,Massimo Cesarano,Carmen Maria Rosskopf

doi:10.3390/geosciences12020100

Abstract

The Apennine mountain areas suffer progressive abandonment and marginality, although being characterized by an extraordinary richness in natural and cultural resources, and landscapes of great beauty. Therefore, their natural heritage, and especially their geoheritage, tranformed into geotourism initiatives, can represent an essential resource to support local economy andsustainable development. The present study illustrates the case of Matese Mountains (Southern Apennines), particularly rich in protected areas, including the Matese National Park currently taking off, which is characterized by a rich geoheritage, based on 59 geosites. Among these geosites, examining the specially built geosite GIS database, 16 geosites were selected to construct a geoitinerary crossing the Matese Mountains. The geoitinerary was delineated to optimally represent the major geomorphological and geological (especially geohistorical) features of the Matese area. The selected geosites were associated to a new procedure to assess their Scientific Value (SV) and Potential Tourism Use (PTU), and to confirm their suitability for the purpose. To illustrate the geoitinerary, a geoitinerary map, and illustration material such as descriptive cards were produced. As an overall result, the proposed geoitinerary represents a valuable contribution for the geotourism promotion of the Matese Mountains on which to base future studies and initiatives in this perspective.

Highlights

The Mediterranean mountain ranges (Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, Atlas, etc.) are areas of priority interest due to their natural resources, especially for their richness in fauna and flora and relatively high biodiversity
The present study illustrates the case of Matese Mountains (Southern Apennines), rich in protected areas, including the Matese National Park currently taking off, which is characterized by a rich geoheritage, based on 59 geosites
We considered the selection criteria Safety, Accessibility, Scenic-aesthetic qualities and Interpretative potential, which are essential for assessing sites suitable for geotourism use (e.g., [77,89])

Summary

Introduction

The Mediterranean mountain ranges (Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, Atlas, etc.) are areas of priority interest due to their natural resources, especially for their richness in fauna and flora and relatively high biodiversity Likewise, these mountainous areas are of high geological interest as they testify important steps of the geological history of the Earth and host highly diversified landscapes, which result from the prolonged interplay of endogenic and exogenic processes under variable climate conditions. Mediterranean mountain areas are largely part of the so-called inner areas, i.e., rural areas that experience marginalization due to their geographical and socio-economic conditions ([1,2] and references therein), and are significantly affected by demographic decline and population ageing, as well as landscape degradation caused primarily by agricultural abandonment ([3] and references therein) The set of these characteristics, together with the significant geographical space that mountain areas occupy, make them become priority objects of sustainable development policies (e.g., [4]). This theme implicates a contrast between interventions aimed at nature protection, especially the institution and management of protected areas (from special protection areas up to national parks), widespread at the European scale, and others that focus on the exploitation of the cultural heritage and the socio-economic development of the territory

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Conclusion