Estudo das áreas de APP do rio Alegria dentro do perímetro urbano do município de Medianeira - Paraná

Abstract

Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs) are territorial spaces delimited by the Brazilian Forest Code (CFB - Law 12.651/2012) with the objective of mitigating the environmental impacts caused by human occupation. These areas act in the protection of soil, conservation of water resources, conservation and reproduction of biodiversity, sheltering native fauna and flora spe- cies, conservation of the landscape, and overall maintenance of human well-being. The present study aimed to measure and verify whether the PPAs of the Alegria River within the urban perimeter of the municipality of Medianeira - PR are in compliance with the CFB and to diag- nose the ecological quality of these areas through the application of a Rapid Ecological Assess- ment Protocol. The measurement of riparian vegetation was carried out at 18 points along the river using geographic information software (GIS) through the processing and interpretation of high-resolution georeferenced aerial images, and the Rapid Ecological Assessment Protocol was applied following the methodology developed by Callisto et al. (2002) at 10 points to di- agnose the ecological quality of these PPAs. The study results demonstrated that 15 out of 18 points are non-compliant with the CFB regarding the width of the riparian vegetation strip. Furthermore, only 30% of the evaluated points were classified as "Natural Environment," while 40% of the points were classified as "Altered Environment," and 30% as "Impacted Environ- ment." This highlights the importance of conservation measures and appropriate management of these areas to mitigate the environmental impacts resulting from human occupation. In sum- mary, the use of aerial images processed by GIS, combined with the application of the Rapid Ecological Assessment Protocol, proved to be an effective tool in the environmental diagnosis of PPAs.