Mapping permanent preservation areas and conflicts of corrego rico watershed Jaboticabal - SP

Abstract

The characterization, diagnosis and prognosis studies on watersheds aimed to manage the natural resource have been performed in order to understand and implement conservation practices of the agricultural production system. This study aimed to characterize the environment of the Córrego Rico watershed using geographic information system techniques. In the permanent preservation areas we identified areas of land use conflict, with reference to Brazilian environmental legislation. In terms of its environmental degradation, there has been a decrease of vegetation cover in the watershed caused by deforestation of riparian vegetation, due to the expansion of the urban area, and an abandonment of these areas was observed. In some regions, reforestation occurred in both the springs and along the drainage network. Of the total area, 6.12% are occupied with permanent preservation area, totalizing 34,51 km². Of these areas, 17,87% was occupied by forest, 24.35% was occupied by sugarcane at an early stage and 11.41% covered by sugarcane in the mature stage. The methodology yielded a set of georeferenced information, enabling the characterization of environmental watershed for decision making, regarding the exploitation of the soil and the priority areas for conservation management.