Usos do solo e impactos socioambientais nas bacias hidrográficas dos rios Camanducaia e Jaguary

Abstract

The current discussions about environmental issues are influenced by different conceptions and perceptions of the natural world of various social actors embedded in different socio cultural contexts. This research used as general area of studies, the municipality of Camanducaia-MG and the spring areas of the Jaguary and Camanducaia Rivers Watershed located in the municipalities of Camanducaia–MG and SapucaíMirim-MG. These watersheds are located within the Fernão Dias Environmental Protected Area (Fernão Dias EPA) and are the major contributors to the Cantareira Water Supply System, responsible for supplying water to a larger part of the Metropolitan Areas of Sao Paulo and Campinas. This research aimed to identify the main human economic activities, their environmental impacts and their possible influences on the regional water resources quality, to analyze the existing local reality knowledge by identifying the different social actor’s environmental perceptions and conceptions, and through studies field and cartographic material. The methodology initially involved a survey of the environmental perception through semi-structured interviews applied to urban and rural inhabitants and influential people, allowing the understanding of the reality by the local community, to characterize the main human economic activities and the identification and analysis of the main environmental impacts through thematic maps and Leopold Matrix. Among the improper soil uses can be highlighted: agricultural practices with heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in Protected Areas, the silting of water courses by removal of riparian vegetation and the replacement of native forest by eucalyptus and pine plantations. This work has highlighted the environmental dynamics of the study area thus providing important insights into the development of environmentally sustainable alternatives and public policies that may allow the maintenance of both the quality of the environment and of life for the whole society.