Tipologias de uso/cobertura da terra e problemas ambientais em Unidade de Conservação: a APA do Estuário do Rio Ceará-RMF

Abstract

Brazil's Conservation Units are important mechanisms for managing natural ecosystems in the face of growing environmental degradation. Despite this, the existence of Conservation Units does not completely guarantee the protection of nature and its resources, which makes environmental conservation a challenging task. The Environmental Protection Area of the Estuary of the Ceará’s River is a sustainable Use Conservation area located between the cities of Fortaleza and Caucaia, two urban centers that are increasingly expanding. For this reason, the EPA of the Estuary of the Ceará’s River is a space that is very vulnerable to anthropic activities. As such, this research aimed to classify the typologies and problems related to Land Use/Cover in the Conservation Unit, establishing a correlation between the urban environment and natural protection, in order to verify how the different human activities developed in this environment interfere in the spatial organization and ecological balance of the EPA, aiming, in addition to the scientific contribution, at the possible promotion of environmental and social policies. To this end, bibliographic and documentary review techniques were used, as well as the analysis of images from the CBERS4A and Google Earth Pro satellites, which made it possible to produce a map of the use and coverage of the land in the EPA and to observe the different processes that modify its spatial configuration. As a result of these methodologies, six classes of land use and cover were identified and mapped, representing aspects related to human activities and the EPA's vegetation cover. In addition, the presence of two main agents acting in the spatial transformation of this environmental protection area and its surroundings was also noted, shaping distinct socio-spatial processes. Finally, it became clear that the Environmental Protection Area of the Estuary of the Ceará’s River is directly impacted by human actions, which throughout the historical process of occupation and urban growth in Fortaleza and Caucaia, have unleashed a variety of adverse environmental impacts on this Conservation Unit, thus compromising its sustainability.