Mapeamento do uso alternativo do solo mediante sensoriamento remoto : mineração e monoculturas na Área de Proteção Ambiental (APA) do Rio Tibiri, em Santa Rita-PB

Abstract

Alternative land use promotes changes in land features due to anthropogenic interventions that modify soils, suppress flora, and interfere with water resources. This scenario presents a challenge for the implementation of conservation units, in order to protect relevant natural characteristics such as aquifers, geological formations, and remnants of native vegetation. This situation applies to the Environmental Protection Area (EPA) created in the city of Santa Rita-PB in 2023, whose purpose is to conserve the water source that maintains public water supply and is part of the Atlantic Forest biome. Therefore, the objective of this work is to map areas of sand mining and monocultures in the Tibiri River EPA, through the analysis of multitemporal images captured by orbital sensors. Methodologically, the study integrated geospatial data (satellite images and aerial photogrammetry), historical documents (government reports), and public data available in the Mining Geographic Information System and the Rural Environmental Registry System, in addition to field research. Consequently, the research results highlighted the natural elements that have been affected by these economic activities over time: territorial disruption of ephemeral lagoons (tributaries of the Tibiri River), deforestation of remaining Atlantic Forest areas, and suppression of typical Cerrado flora. The hypothesis that these modifications occurred gradually and intensified during the transition from the 20th to the 21st century, due to the interconnection of the agricultural sector, sand mining, and the execution of public works (road construction and expansion of the electricity sector), was confirmed. However, the hypothesis that illegal mining threatens the conservation of the EPA's natural resources was refuted; rather, sand extraction occurs in a regulated manner, through the granting of mining titles by the competent bodies, mainly under the licensing regime issued by the Municipal Public Authority. Furthermore, it was found that the Legal Reserve and the Permanent Preservation Areas, located in the largest landholding in the city (78,7 km2), contributed to conserving the remnants of native vegetation, and currently, these protected territories are part of the Tibiri River EPA. The research also identified pineapple and sugarcane monocultures around the river, due to the characteristics that differentiate each crop, in addition to the particularities of the plants. These results are relevant because mapping land use and its temporal evolution is one of the prerequisites for the continuous planning of conservation units, especially in the sustainable use modality.