Zoneamento ambiental da APA do estuário do Rio Curú (Ceará Nordeste do Brasil)

Abstract

Conservation of the coastal zone is a matter of debate worldwide. Conservation Units (CU) in Brazil are inserted as a legal instrument to ensure proper use of natural resources and promote sustainable development. There are several categories of CUs, an example of that is Environmental Protection Areas (APAs) that for the efficient management use important tools, such as zoning. The current study aims to zoning and characterize geoenvironmental units of river Curú estuaries protected area to provide subsidies for the update of information, considering that the last date of 2005. The research was based on the classification criteria of the ecological- economic zoning ( EEZ ) of the Coastal Zone of Ceará and conducted in seven steps which were made possible by the use of remote sensing and technical GIS: data collection , data pocessamento , diagnosis of natural units , checking field reinterpretation of images , making environmental and zoning map. The results identified the following geoenvironmental units: River Plain , Plain fluvial- marine with mangroves ; fixed dunes ; Plain deflation / mobile dunes ; Plain Deflation / Fixed Dunes , Board Pre - Coastal and Coastal cord . These were arranged in a thematic map on the scale of 1: 40,000. The environmental zoning was made to be used in order to advise the correct use of the natural resources of the APA. The current research can help in the discussion of coastal zoning in semi-arid tropics.