Assessment of ecosystem services related to geodiversity with the participation of traditional communities of the Northern Coast of São Paulo state

• Grant number: 25/04384-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Souza dos Santos
• Grantee: Daniel Souza dos Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Christine Laure Marie Bourotte ; Denise de La Corte Bacci Toledo ; Eliane Aparecida Del Lama ; José Luis Sánchez Cortez ; Kátia Leite Mansur ; Maria da Glória Motta Garcia

Abstract

Geoconservation is a field of geosciences that has been gaining relevance over the last decades, being an important instrument for the insertion of geosciences into global environmental issues, especially climate change. In this process, geodiversity, a concept referring to the variety of geological, geomorphological, pedological, and hydrological elements of nature, has also been highlighted as a concept complementary to biodiversity and equally fundamental for the understanding of ecosystems and their associated services. With this, comes the importance of studies that seek to understand the importance of geodiversity in ecosystem services, since, often, emphasis is given to biological elements only, which represents a knowledge gap since ecosystems are composed of physical and biological elements in interaction. Another point that has been gaining importance is the realization of research that integrates academic knowledge with traditional knowledge, since traditional communities have great knowledge about the environments in which they live and are directly affected by impacts in these environments. This project is inserted in this context, aiming to evaluate the ecosystem services related to geodiversity provided to traditional communities - quilombola and caiçara - in the Northern Coast region of the state of São Paulo. The research will be carried out through geodiversity mapping methods and ecosystem services assessment, and also with the inclusion of a participatory methodology, socio-environmental mapping, for the identification of geodiversity elements and services that benefit traditional communities, as well as the main impacts that affect these services. With this, it will be possible to obtain an overview of the ecosystem services associated with geodiversity through the direct participation of the main social actors involved. The project aims to contribute to the public debate, highlighting the importance of geodiversity in a context of nature conservation and the struggle for the right to the territory of communities that suffer pressures and find themselves involved in socio-environmental conflicts. (AU)