Transformation of the Landscape Environmental Preservation Area EPA in Botucatu-SP

• Grant number: 11/06416-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2011
• End date: December 31, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Nature Conservation
• Principal Investigator: Celia Regina Lopes Zimback
• Grantee: Paula Oddone Souza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Environmental Preservation Areas (EPA) are a type of Conservation Unit of Sustainable Use that have public and private areas inside its territory. To establish and reorganize the use of EPA' territory in order to preserve the environment in conjunction with human actions, is necessary a management plan, to be conducted within five years from date of creation of the EPA according to current legislation. The EPA Botucatu, established in 1983, doesn't have its management plan completed until the present days (2011). This APA has important attributes to be preserved, the Basalt Cuesta, the Guarani Aquifer, the largest source of groundwater in the world, and the archaeological site Abrigo Brandi, besides fragments of native vegetation that is home to local wildlife. The consequences of inadequate organization of use and occupation of its territory can be observed in a comparative study of use and occupation of EPA' s territory wich will be the objective of this work. The occupation comparison of APA's territory inserted into the Botucatu will be between 1985 and 2010, using satellite images of the respective years, and propose actions for their use. Remote sensing (RS) using a geographic information system (GIS) have proven excellent tools for this purpose.