Geoenvironmental influence on changes in attitudes and economics in the Witmarsum Settlement, State of Paraná, Southern Brazil

Abstract

The Witmarsum Settlement, situated in the Campos Gerais Region, State of Paraná, raises reflections concerning the cultural trajectory of the mennonite people and geoenvironmental  constraints and opportunities. Originally farming, in Brazil obligated to dedicate to dairy cattle and culturally differentiated, today the mennonites argue the possibility of to open the settlement for sustainable tourism (ecotourism, geotourism, etnotourism, rural tourism) as an economic supplement. Evaluating such possibility, this study discusses the natural and cultural attributes in the location, the internal organization in the settlement and the formal guidelines for sustainable tourism implantation. About the natural attributes, in the settlement territory there are glacial Palaeozoic striation, patrimony already transformed in a geological monument with visitation infrastructure. About the cultural attributes, the mennonite everyday life and economic structures are organized respecting the traditional religious orientation, being this a valorized and preserved cultural aspect. Considering Witmarsum's cultural and geoenvironmental characteristics the study concludes by the viability of a small impact economic activity, since respecting the environmental and cultural preservation concepts and current procedures already practiced in the settlement. Such activity should have larger economic success possibility, and at the same time more risks regarding the colony cultural identity, if integrated to touristic clusters proposed for the region.