Percepção ambiental dos moradores sobre os impactos socioambientais da instalação de usinas eólicas e a aplicação da compensação ambiental: estudo de caso na apa das dunas da Lagoinha, Paraipaba, CE

Abstract

The objective of this study is to understand the perception that the local population has about the socio-environmental impacts caused by the installation and operation of the wind farms in the locality around the EPA of Lagoinha Dunes, as to regarding the application of environmental compensation arising from the installation of these ventures. The study of environmental perception is crucial for us to understand better the interrelations between men and the environment, their expectations, desires, satisfactions and dissatisfactions, judgments and behaviors. And, thus, assist in the Governmental decision making through public policies. The area we adopted in this study is the Lagoinha community, more precisely the Environmental Protection Area (EPA) Conservation Unit (CU) of Dunas da Lagoinha and adjacent localities, in the municipality of Paraipaba / CE. This is due to its geomorphological formation and climatic conditions that presented appropriate conditions for future installation and use of wind energy, in order to benefit the energy matrix of the state of Ceará. This research is exploratory, descriptive and analytical, bibliographic and case study, where data collection occurred through the application of semi-structured questionnaire to a group of residents residing in the polygon of the EPA of Dunas da Lagoinha and in its surroundings. In the field research, the socioenvironmental impacts were investigated, based on the perception of the local residents, caused by the wind farms, as well as the level of understanding of the community on this theme and the degree of contribution that the enterprise could bring to the development of the community, mainly through environmental compensation. The main results were the descriptive analysis of the graphs that were elaborated based on the collected data, which were subdivided into themes, i.e.: Demographic & Socioeconomic Profile; Knowledge about Conservation Unit; Community Involvement with the Environmental Issue; Environmental responsibility; Sustainable Management of the EPA of the Dunas da Lagoinha and Socioenvironmental impacts and Environmental Compensation. As of the analyzes resulting from the questionnaires, it was obtained that the majority of the residents approached guarantee the support of their families through the income of informal jobs. They resent the few job opportunities they have in the region, and because of this, they long for the locality to be contemplated with the construction of great works, which would, in their opinion, generate employment and income.Therefore, from this assumption, their responses were favorable to the implantation of the wind power plants, even if for this the decharacterization of the natural environment occurs. Regarding the use of environmental compensation for the CU in question, there was a unanimity of the individuals surveyed in ensuring that the population should participate in the projects for this area, since it is a budget for public policies to be implemented exclusively in Conservation Units.