Análise da reposição florestal no estado do Ceará

Abstract

Technological advancement, population growth and exploitation of natural resources through agricultural practice, livestock, mineral extraction, among others, are responsible for the exacerbated pressure on natural forests, compromising the carrying capacity of ecosystems and the maintenance of environmental services, such as hydrological flow regulation, wildlife habitat, temperature regulation, carbon sequestration, soil protection and nutrient cycling. This problem becomes more evident with the progress of the study on climate change and the greenhouse effect, becoming clearer the importance of forests for the survival of the human species, not only as a product generator but as a provider of life-essential goods. Therefore, it is necessary to guarantee environmental preservation by legal means, such as forest restoration, which is an important mitigating measure of the destructive processes arising from the exploitation of native forests. Given the above, the present study evaluated the fulfillment of forest replacement as a condition of authorizations for alternative land use by vegetal suppression issued by the State Superintendent of the Environment of Ceará. The methodology consisted of reading and analysis of different processes that were authorized for alternative land use between 2012 and 2017, followed by data collection that were organized into tables for further analysis. It was observed that about 50% of the companies did not comply with forest replacement, mainly due to the water scarcity that characterized the state of Ceará during the study period. Regarding the projects that fulfilled the replacement, It is observed that there is a predominance of native caatinga species, despite the occurrence of some exotic species.