Cultural heritage tourism in the Itonama Indigenous Community Versalles
This project explores the relationship between archaeology, natural resource management and landscape perception of the Itonama indigenous community of Versalles. The project follows an alternative approach to traditional archaeological practices and heritage management. It employs archaeological data to construct a social dimension of heritage and enhance the living standards of the Versalles population. It is funded by the Global Impact Acceleration Account research grant (GCRF) (UK Research and Innovation) and a joint endeavour amongst the University of Exeter, the University of Bonn, Wildlife Conservation Society and the Versalles community. It implements an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeology, anthropology, cultural geography and territorial management. Through workshops with the community employing a participatory methodology, the project elaborated a governance plan for the community of Versalles. This in turn, allowed for the identification of the potential of the archaeology, as well as landscape and cultural heritage for the development of ecotourism in the region.
Our approach facilitates the identification of the potential of the archaeological, landscape, natural and cultural heritage, for the strengthening of ecotourism in the region, expanding its offer of sport fishing, with additional information for the tourist guides of the community and for the community in general, particularly the youth and the production of documentary and audio-visual materials to promote greater affluence of tourists to the community, strengthening an environmental conservation strategy with the generation of economic income that the community decided to adopt almost a decade ago.
Cultural heritage tourism in the Itonama Indigenous Community Versalles 