Dinâmica da cobertura da terra (2016-2023): um estudo no Parque Natural Municipal Mata do Frio e seu entorno, Paulista - PE

Abstract

The Conservation Units (UC) in Brazil are used as tools for increasing environmental preservation and ecosystem protection. However, without proper monitoring and management, they become targets for degradation and environmental crimes, particularly those units located in urban areas, which are subject to anthropogenic pressure. Taking into consideration the reported cases of deforestation within the Municipal Natural Park Mate do Frio in Paulista - PE, this study aimed to analyze the land use and land cover of this conservation unit using remote sensing techniques, specifically the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), to assess changes over a 7-year interval based on satellite images from the Planet Satellite. To achieve this, study area cutouts from the years 2016 and 2023 were utilized, and a 1 km buffer was generated to assess the influence area. The NDVI calculation was applied to the cutout images. and the classes were reclassified based on their values into water, exposed soil, anthropized areas, low vegetation. and dense vegetation. Additionally, images from the studied years were correlated to identify changes in land cover. The study revealed an increase in dense vegetation within the UC, rising from 26.72% to 65.81%, along with a reduction in anthropized areas from 3.33% to 1.89% of the total area. Conversion of anthropogenic areas into low and dense vegetation was observed, accounting for 4.74% and 0.28%, respectively. Despite these positive findings, deforestation of 1.17 ha (5.70% of vegetation area) was noted. Concerning the surrounding area, there was an increase in anthropized areas from 33.17% to 47.12% due to urban expansion, with part of this anthropized area resulting from the deforestation of 67.41 ha of low vegetation. To validate the accuracy of the obtained data, the kappa index was used, showing values above 80% (very good) for the 2016 images and above 90% (excellent) for the 2023 images. The study results indicated that the environmental degradations in the specific UC were not significant but were noticeable, highlighting the need for increased monitoring, environmental education practices with the community, implementation of the unit's management plan, and the delineation of its buffer zone, given the anthropogenic pressure in the surrounding area of the Park.