UNESCO Geopark
In the 80s the town of Mata, supported by São Pedro do Sul and Santa Maria, asked the UNESCO that the region was classified as a World Heritage Site. At this time, UNESCO did not have a solution to the global geological heritage.
The geopark concept created and diffused in Europe, was adopted by UNESCO in 1998. For a geopark enter the network of UNESCO geopark requires that certain criteria are met:
- Make an inquiry broad in all more than 30 municipalities involved.
- Joining the private and government municipalities, State and Union
- Create an economically sustainable model, using the Tourism, Research and Education in Paleontology.
- Tourism should be a source of revenue to cover the cost of Research and Education.
- Help preserve the fossil heritage for future generations.
The certification is an endorsement of UNESCO for the tourist and ensures that there is a geopark in responsible tourism and an infrastructure to receive tourists.
The Paleorrota Group gathers people of central Rio Grande do Sul, through an electronic mailing list on the internet. Lack involvement of public institutions such as the Secretariat of Tourism of Rio Grande do Sul, Federation of Associations of Municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul and Company Mineral Resources Research. You need the involvement of state legislators and the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul to legislate on the subject. All this makes the existing projects to progress slowly.
Currently the demand of tourists is very low, but with potential to grow. The demand is not growing due to lack of investment in tourist attractions that can only be realized with the joint efforts of private and public power. For the geopark become economically sustainable, it is necessary that the current demand of 10 thousand tourists a year rise to 150 thousand tourists annually, to go beyond the break-even. If each gaucho visited the region once in a lifetime, this point would be reached, it shows that there is much room to grow economically.
The projects Paleorrota Geopark, Institute Paleorrota and Highway of dinossaurs, are intended to create economic sustainability for this paleorrota.
Read more about this topic: Paleorrota