Geotourism in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni UNESCO Global Geopark (Southern Italy): The Middle Bussento Karst System

Ettore Valente, Antonio Santo, Domenico Guida and Nicoletta Santangelo
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Ettore Valente: Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Science, DISTAR, University of Naples Federico II, via Cinthia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Antonio Santo: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale, DICEA, University of Naples Federico II, piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Domenico Guida: Department of Civil Engineering and Consorzio inter-Universitario per la previsione e prevenzione dei Grandi Rischi (CUGRI), University of Salerno, Campus of Fisciano, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132–84084 Fisciano, Italy
Nicoletta Santangelo: Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Science, DISTAR, University of Naples Federico II, via Cinthia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy

Resources, 2020, vol. 9, issue 5, 1-26

Abstract: In this paper we want to stress the role of geotourism as a means to promote environmental education and, on occasion, as a way to increase the touristic interest of an area. Geoparks are certainly the territory where geotourism can be best exploited. We propose a geoitinerary to discover the amazing, but poorly known, Middle Bussento Karst System, with the blind valley of the Bussento River, in the southeast of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark. This is the only example, in Southern Italy, of a stream sinking underground and it is the second longest subsurface river path in Italy, making this a core area of the Geopark. We combined field surveys and literature data to create a geoitinerary that can be useful in helping to promote this site. This geoitinerary is applicable to both simple generic visitors and geo-tourists and has an educational purpose, especially in explaining the significance and the fragility of karst areas in terms of environmental protection. Moreover, it may represent a sort of stimulus for the growth of touristic activity in this inner area of the Geopark.

Keywords: geotourism; geomorphosites; environmental education; Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni Geopark; Middle Bussento Karst System (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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