Desafios para a implantação da Unidade de Conservação do Machado no município de Palmas - TO

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a characterization of the environment and land ownership in the area that makes up the Machado Conservation Unit, located in the municipality of Palmas - Tocantins, looking to present its current state of conservation, and emphasize the relevance of turning it into an environmentally protected area. Therefore, documents and studies on the process of the occupation of the southern area of the Municipal Master Plan were gathered, identifying the possible pressures of human presence. This procedure allowed for the development of an environmental situation panorama. With this information, an evaluation of the impacts of land use was created, through the Descriptive List method (Check List) and the Interaction Matrix method, proposed by Leopold et al (1971), which was adapted to meet the specifications of this study. It was found that Machado CU suffers strong environmental pressures from the resident population in its vicinity, exerting a very close relationship between man and such fragile environment, resulting in environmental degradation. Additionally, an analysis of the evolution of land cover over time was made comparing the years 2006, prior to the creation of the aforementioned unit, and 2012, the year of the most current satellite images available to public at the time of this analysis. This allowed for the identification of landscape dynamics and the assessment of changes caused by irregular settlements, in which it was found that making the area environmentally protected contributed to its environmental preservation, but did not slow the growing occupation of the land with irregular settlements or the consequent removal of riparian vegetation. The relevance of implementing the Machado Conservation Unit became noteworthy, requiring the adoption of responsible actions and coordinated actions at various levels of government, through a environmental sustainability policy with measures contributing to its implementation, and to minimize the harm arising from currently existing environmental degradation.