Ecosystem Services and Typology of Urban Geodiversity: Qualitative Assessment in Natal Town, Brazilian Northeast

Abstract

Natal is a city located in northeastern Brazil that has a geodiversity composed of different landscapes, flanked by beaches, dunes, cliffs, rivers, mangroves, and lagoons. Throughout the city’s history, which spans more than 400 years, geodiversity has always been present since the early days of local cartography, dating back to the Dutch occupation period, on the seventeenth century, in which the natural environment had been faithfully portrayed. The studies developed in this work approach the geodiversity of Natal City that occurs naturally, in situ. The identification of the main places in which the abiotic nature is highlighted was performed, allied to a geological-geomorphological description. The occurrences were classified according to their area extension and the ecosystem services of abiotic nature, in a system divided into five services (cultural, regulating, provisioning, supporting, and knowledge). In the study area, all services were identified, and of the subclassification in geodiversity goods and processes, 16 out of 25 were observed, which reaffirms the importance of the local abiotic nature. On the tipology of these occurrences, they were identified as sections, areas, point, and viewpoints. Due to its extension and variety, it can be used for science, culture, sports, and tourism, in order to promote, jointly, the dissemination of the natural and cultural beauties of the city and geosciences, helping the geoconservation process.