Áreas prioritárias à conservação ambiental em Santa Maria, RS: estratégias para gestão ambiental municipal

Abstract

The creation of areas aiming the environment control is a necessity in the current times, once the anthropogenic impact has already been degraded it. In such scenario this study brings to search priority areas for protection in Santa Maria and strategies which allow conserving the environment, for this the territorial area considered in the Annex 12 of the Law of Use and Land Occupancy of the municipality, since this area presents the biotic and abiotic components of the landscape needed to maintain environmental services. Thus, the focus of this thesis is to identify priority areas for environmental conservation in Santa Maria, and also develop analysis over the strategies to permit sustainability effectiveness of these areas. Results were obtained initially with the definition of landscape attributes, which corresponded to biological, geological/geomorphological and hydrological, since these accomplishes essential environmental services for the population. Next, it was identified criterias for mapping as land cover, drainage distances, relevant areas for water supply capture, location of geotourism and fossiliferous sites and the Special Natural Areas. Following this identification criteria, the mappings were developed qualifying them with scores and weights, which were spatialized in the maps. From this qualification, and from the mappings generated, it was possible to identify the priority areas for environmental conservation located in the territorial limit of study of the thesis. At the end, protected areas were analyzed in Portugal in order to establish strategies for conservation and sustainable use. Regarding the proposed objectives, the methodology was based in a multicriteria analysis for decision-making to define priority areas for conservation and, in the analysis of landscapes, for the definition of strategies that allow this conservation. Thus, results presented that the North sector, East-West direction, as an extreme priority for conserving, encompassing important areas such as the drainage basin of Vacacaí-Mirim river and municipal natural park of Morros. The areas classified as second highest priority are located in the center of the study area, characterized by the Mariano da Rocha and Cerrito hills, on the West-Southwest axis, which includes the Passo de Tropas aquifer, and in the Northeast and Northwest sectors, which present the arboreal vegetation of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve as a prominent element. The additional areas were considered from average to low priority of environmental conservation, according to the importance of environmental services provided by the elements analyzed. Thus, with the identification the areas of highest priority for environmental conservation, it was developed strategies for conservation and use of this area, focusing the effectiveness of protection, highlighting the developed pedestrian routes. The results of this thesis demonstrate the importance that the attributes of local landscapes play and are favorable to society, so that they constitute of spaces that need to be protected in an effective way.