Coastal Scenic Evaluation of Continental Ecuador and Galapagos Islands: Human Impacts and Management Issues

Carlos Mestanza-Ramón,J Adolfo Chica-Ruiz,Alexis Mooser,Giorgio Anfuso,Camilo M Botero,Enzo Pranzini

doi:10.3390/jmse8060468

Abstract

The scenery, safety, facilities, water quality and litter quantities in coastal areas are relevant and determining elements in the choice of a tourist destination. This paper focused on the evaluation of coastal scenic value in 55 and 12 sites respectively located in continental Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. The information obtained gives public administrators and coastal managers the relevant data to avoid further environmental degradation and suggests measures to improve the present scenic value of tourist destinations. The methodology used was based on the analysis of 26 physical/human factors and applied fuzzy logic analysis and weighting matrices that allowed the sites to be classified into five classes, from Class I (natural areas with superior scenic characteristics) to Class V (poor scenic areas with relevant impact of human interventions). The most attractive beaches were in the Galapagos Islands due to the magnificent physical and environmental characteristics, while the Esmeraldas province presented sites of lower scenic beauty due to the low natural scenic value and the increase of human impacts. In total, 22% (15 out of 67) of the beaches investigated belonged to Class I, 12% (8) to Class II and 15% (10) to Class III. The last two classes included 51% of the beaches (i.e., 34 out of 67), of which 31% (21) was in Class IV and 20% (13) in Class V. Such results provide local managers and planners a solid inventory on coastal scenic characteristics and baseline information for any envisaged subsequent management plan.

Highlights

The importance of landscape for society has been recognized for a long time and, nowadays, tourism and coastal scenery represent two intimately related realities [1]
The objective of this paper is to evaluate the coastal landscape at 67 beaches on the continental coast of Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (Ecuador) and the Galapagos Islands (Figure 1 and Table 1)
El Garrapatero (Santa Cruz island; “D”: 1.21) and Los Frailes (Manabi; “D”: 1.17), which are natural beaches located in protected areas, showed high scores in physical parameters, e.g., beach and water color, highly undulating landform and natural cover, a 50-m-high cliff at Los Frailes and outstanding biodiversity in Garrapatero, and very low impact related to human pressure (Figures 2–5)

Summary

Introduction

The importance of landscape for society has been recognized for a long time and, nowadays, tourism and coastal scenery represent two intimately related realities [1]. Tourism in Ecuador greatly contributes to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), both in a direct (2%) and indirect/induced (5%) way and it accounts for about 1 out of 20 jobs, making tourism the fifth largest economic industry of the country [5]. Tourism is currently considered a State policy and a priority issue on the national political agenda as one of the country’s main economic activities [7]. These policies aim to attract a greater number of foreign tourists and to boost the local economy in a sustainable manner. The country has maintained a growing economic trend which is important in the region, as evidenced by the growth of its gross domestic product [8]. Ecuador’s economic growth is due to a series of important decisions on economic income generators, moving from being a country focused on the primary sector to developing the industrial and, especially, service sectors [6]

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Conclusion