Expansão urbana e degradação socioambiental: cenários e impactos no território da zona de proteção ambiental ZPA 09

Abstract

Environmental Protection Zone 09 is undergoing constant degradation processes in its ecosystem, and this study aimed to historicize the genesis of these processes and how they are not limited to the territory of this environmentally protected area. This is an area that has been extensively studied by academia due to its environmental importance and ecological fragility. Using historical images from the LANDSAT collection and the classification of land use and occupation, it was found that rapid urban expansion, caused by population growth and real estate speculation, poses risks to the aquifer system that feeds the fluvial-lacustrine geosystem of ZPA 09, formed by the Rio Doce and several connecting lakes, since in the neighborhoods that share the territory of ZPA 09 there is no sanitation system for domestic effluents. Internally in ZPA 09, it was noted that the processes of environmental degradation are still constant, as one can observe the dumping of solid waste, deforestation and growth of occupations, without the knowledge of the public administration and without the consent of technical agencies. With the occupation process in areas where the water table is exposed, combined with the silting of the riverbed, there are strong socio-environmental disruptions, with flooding and inundation of socioeconomically vulnerable communities, which could worsen with climate change. This study also noted a strong ecological potential, as there is a set of environmental protection areas that cover a large part of the northern coast, together with the mangrove areas of the Potengi River, which could constitute an ecological corridor.