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I International Conference on Tourism and Sustainability, 22-23 de Setembro de 2011, ISLA Campus Lisboa. The Autonomous Region of the Azores has become a reference in the field of green tourism due to factors like the diversity of its fauna and flora, the awesome sightseeing spots, the mild weather and the vast range of different tourist activities that can be practiced there. One of the most usual and important activities developed in São Miguel island, where this study was conducted, is hiking along the trails of the protected area of Lagoa do Fogo. Overall there are many official and non-official trails embracing different degrees of difficulty, lengths and environments. The aim of this research was to calculate the carrying capacity for the two official trails that cross the protected area of Lagoa do Fogo. The tracks evaluated were: PR32SMI: Monte Escuro – Vila Franca do Campo (temporarily closed). PRC2SMI: Praia – Lagoa do Fogo. Cifuentes´ methodology was used to evaluate the trails’ carrying capacity: Using natural and social factors to calculate the Physical Carrying Capacity we obtained an initial capacity of 20925 visitors/day for PR32SMI, and 18600 for PRC2SMI. After applying some correction factors, we get the Real Carrying Capacity that also needs to be modified in order to achieve the Effective Carrying Capacity, related to the management capacity of the area. The final aim of the research was to get a maximum number of visi¬tors that can daily enjoy the trails, avoiding the degradation of the paths and its surroundings. Our results pointed to 1058 and 1517 visitors/day respectively, far from the first calculations we made. We have also included some actions and conservation measures, in order to improve the quality of the tracks. FCT e programa COMPETE |
