Resumo

PEREZ-VIVAR, Marcelino A. et al. Ecotourist flair in the sierra nevada of Texcoco, Mexico state. Madera bosques [online]. 2014, vol.20, n.2, pp.127-140. ISSN 2448-7597.

In the present study a computer (software) system was developed in order to determine the potential of forest areas for performing ecotourist activities; such study was carried out in the Sierra Nevada of Texcoco, State of Mexico. The system utilizes as input information about conditions of the environment, important for adequate development of ecotourism activities, expressed as rank of criteria, sub-criteria, and variables, as well as subject matter information of the area of evaluation. The information, regarding the conditions of environment, was gathered by means of survey, applied to instructors of scout children, professors of university and postgraduate degree, students in the last year of degree, and members of civil associations, related all of them to the topic of ecotourism. With respect to thematic information, digital maps were used under the system of UTM NAD27 coordinates, corresponding to the letter Chalco "E14B31", INEGI scale 1:50000. As a result, the system generated maps of capacity with values in a gradient from 0 to 1 for the activities of camping, long walk (hiking), and days out in the open, where value 1 indicates the presence of conditions, ideal for the development of the activity, and zero for its total absence. Additionally, the functioning of the system was evaluated demonstrating reliable performance and verifying of being endowed of potential for the representation of complex relations, qualities which may lead to stand for a valuable tool, efficacious and efficient as an instrument of support for the process of decision-taking and planning of land use.

Palavras-chave : GIS; multiple criteria evaluation; ecotourism.