GEOENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AS SUBSIDY TO THE PLANNING IN THE USE
AND OCCUPATION OF THE LANDS PLACED ALONG THE SO-CALLED AREA
COSTA DO DESCOBRIMENTO (BAHIA)
RAUL REIS AMORIM
Professor Doctor, Geography Department of Campos (GRC), Institute of Society Science and
Regional Development (ESR), Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UFF). Email:
raul_reis@id.uff.br
REGINA CÉLIA OF OLIVEIRA
Professor Doctor, Department of Geography (DGEO), Institute of Earth Sciences (IG),
University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Email – reginacoliveira@ige.unicamp.br
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this work is the accomplishment of an Environmental Zoning to be used as an aid to the
use and occupation planning of the lands placed along the coastal zone of the region Costa do
Descobrimento, situated in the extreme south area of the State of Bahia. Such study proposal is relevant
for three main reasons: (a) that region is one of the areas of pioneering colony of the national territory,
area in which the anthropic agent has been performing like an actor in the configuration of the
landscape for over five centuries; (b) the area has suffered transformations in the use and occupation of
the lands, not considering the levels of environmental fragility of the area under study, which highlights
the environmental problems; and (c) the lack of studies that integrate the natural systems to the
anthropic systems in the use and occupation planning of the coastal zone of the region Costa do
Descobrimento. Over the last forty years it has turned out to be one of the most dynamic regions
economically speaking in the State of Bahia, besides one of the main tourist destinations in Brazil. In
order to achieve this goal it has been adopted the methodology proposed by Rodriguez, Silva and
Cavalcanti (2004), emphasizing the functional analysis of the landscape. The different economic
activities implanted at Costa do Descobrimento region over the last 40 years enabled the formation of
several environmental systems with complex fragilities and that have been suffering over the centuries
the pressures due to the use, resulting in environmental problems that alter the dynamics of the natural
systems, as well as the way of life of the local population.
Keywords: Physical geography; Environmental Zoning; Geomorphology; Hillside; Environmental
Planning.
INTRODUCTION
The environmental zoning, as a tool of integrated planning appears as a possible solution for the
rational use organization of the resources, guaranteeing the maintenance of the biodiversity, the natural
processes and ecosystemic environmental services. This requirement for territorial organization
becomes necessary due to the expansion of the agricultural border, the intensification of urbanization
and industrialization processes associated to the deficiency of financial resources focusing the control
of those activities.
Since not all of the areas that contribute for the maintenance of the biodiversity can be widely
protected, it is recommendable the utilization of clear technical-scientific criteria for the prioritization.
Several authors highlight the need to select areas considered important, following approaches that
enable to measure the contribution of types of areas: isolated, different or in groups, for the protection
of the biodiversity.
Pursuant to the law 6.938/81, article 9th, item II, the environmental zoning appears as one of the
instruments of the Environmental National Politics, being an issue of intense national interest.
The implementation of new forms of land use in the coastal environments occurred, mostly,
without the due planning that considered the environmental issues. The environmental fragility of those
areas is too high and the modifications within those environmental systems by the anthropic action
cause irreversible damages. Examples of damages caused to the coastal environmental systems can be
observed all over the Brazilian territory, where can be detected the deforestation, landfill of the biomes,
the release of domestic and industrial effluents into the waterways altering completely the indexes of
the water quality, and constructions along the beach fronts, that modify the dynamic of the coastal
currents triggering alterations on the sedimentological dynamics of the area, among other
environmental problems. All of these issues are resultant of the landscape anthropic process, which on
its turn has caused alteration to the coastal environmental systems dynamic. Those processes of
degradation in the natural environment, by consequence, reach the local population in the appropriation
of the necessary natural resources to its survival.
It is important that the laws governing the environmental quality take into consideration not only
the technical-economic aspects of the projects, but also the environmental conditions. It is necessary
that the society participates actively on the explanations of the criteria adopted to identify, evaluate and
minimize and/or prevent the impacts.
This work aims to apply the methodology proposed by Rodriguez, Silva and Cavalcanti (2004) in
the accomplishment of the Geo-Environmental Zoning based on the systemic approach in one of the
regions of pioneering settlement of the Brazilian coastline, the region of Costa do Descobrimento,
situated in the south end of the State of Bahia. The following items have been defined as specific goals:
(a) To analyze the environmental transformations in the proposed areas in the last 40 years and verify
the environmental state and the degree of occupation in the region Costa do Descobrimento; (b) To
delimit and analyze the geosystems and the anthropic systems that enclose the relevant area; (c) To
interrelate the geosystems and the anthropic systems understanding the flows of matter, energy and
existing information among them, responsible for the scenario of the different environmental systems
in the relevant area; and (d) To analyze the alterations of use within these territories and the implication
in the social and economic development of the towns that compose Costa do Descobrimento.
The achievement of the study of Geo-environmental Zoning proposed through a systemic
approach for the region Costa do Descobrimento, in the State of Bahia, is important, firstly because this
portion of the territory is one of the areas of pioneering settlement of the Brazilian coastline, area in
which the anthropic action performs as an actor in the configuration of the landscape for over five
centuries; secondly, the area has suffered transformations in the use and occupation of the lands, not
considering the levels of environmental fragility of the area, which highlights the environmental
problems; and, finally because there is lack of studies that integrate the natural systems to the anthropic
systems in the planning of the use and occupation of the lands of such area, which over the last forty
years has become one of the regions more economically dynamic in the State of the Bahia, as well as
being one of the main tourist venue in Brazil. Analyzing the causes of this process of occupation and
the environmental fragilities in the area under this study, it is possible to contribute for the prevention
measures elaboration in the use of that space, in order to minimize the anthropic actions that might
cause environmental damages.
This work elaborated a proposal of Geo-Environmental Zoning which supports a sector and
integrated evaluation of the physical resources of the landscape. That will enable, for instance, the
verification of critical areas regarding the use and occupation of the lands. Such analysis shall be
backed by disciplinary mechanisms and by techniques that minimize the action of the anthropic agents,
upon recognizing the environmental fragility of that space, standing out the scenery beauties of the
landscapes.
MATERIAL AND APPROACHES
The methodology proposed by Rodriguez (1997), Silva and Cavalcanti (2004) includes the
following procedures: project organization, inventory of the natural components – geo-ecological
characterization, and inventory of the anthropic components – economic characterization. The
integration of that information will subsidize the analytic stage. The analysis of the results of the
environmental indicators that will subsidize the diagnosis stage constitute the synthesis of the study’s
results; therefore present the indication of the main environmental problems, enabling the
characterization of the present scenario, understood as geoenvironmental.
Based on the methodological proposal suggested by Rodriguez, Silva and Cavalcanti (2004) for the
achievement of this proposal of Environmental Zoning, the Geosystems Map (Map 1) and the
Anthropic Systems Map (Map 2) were used for the definition of each one of those zones represented in
the Map of Functional and Environmental Zoning (Map 3). Environmental State (Map 4) and Levels of
Occupation (Map 5).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The Environmental Zoning proposal of the Region Costa do Descobrimento delimited three
definite zones as Units of Integral Protection, based on the law nr. 9.985, from July 18, 2000, Art. 2,
that defined the zones of integral protection on the areas in which the maintenance of the ecosystems is
free of alterations caused by human interference, admitted only the indirect use of its natural resources,
that is, this indirect use cannot involve consumption, collection, damage or destruction of the natural
resources.
Still, based on the Law no. 9,985, from July 2000, Art. 8, the group of the Units of Integral
Protection is composed by the following conservation unit categories: I - Ecological Station; II Biological Reserve; III - National Park; IV - Natural Monument; V - Wild Life Refuge.
The National Park has as basic objective of preservation of natural ecosystems of high ecological
relevance and scenic beauty, enabling the achievement of scientific researches and the education
activities development and environmental interpretation, recreation in contact with the nature and
ecological tourism.
It is noteworthy that the area of the National Parks has possession and public domain status,
being that the private areas included within their limits will be expropriated, according to the law.
Thus, it is suggested to have an expansion of the area of the three National Parks, enclosing areas
situated around them which still have remainders of the Atlantic Forest, vegetation of Marshlands,
Sandbank and Mussurunga. To have such expansion of the area it will be necessary the dispossessing
of the rural estates installed irregularly along the borders of the Parks.
In the area under study here there are already three Units of Integral Protection: the National Park
Monte Pascoal, the National Park of Descobrimento, and the National Park of Pau Brazil, all of them
situated in the town of Porto Seguro.
The National Parks located in the Region Costa do Descobrimento are located in different features of
the landscape, where the tops of the Costal Plains predominates, intersected by the Plain Slopes and in
the deep valleys the areas of Fluvial Accumulation. The National Park Monte Pascoal also has the
presence of Hills and Small Mountains, besides the Areas of Fluvial-Marine Accumulation. The
complexity of natural systems enables the genesis of soils as the Yellow Latosoil (mainly on the Plain
Tops), the Red-Yellow Argisoils (in the areas with slope situated from 10% to 20%) and soils related to
hydromorphism processes, like the Hydromorphic Spodosoils, Salic Gleisoils and Fluvial Neosoils
(AMORIM, 2011).
The eminent social conflicts in the region threatens the protection zones that present so much
environmental fragilities, either to the natural aspects or to the social ones.
Among the natural aspects, there is the friability of the material, associated to the low declivities
of the area under study, which make them susceptible to the floods in the lowered portions of the
topography, and subject to slides, mainly the areas situated near the slopes with declivities over 20%.
The characteristics of the lithology associated to hydrological dynamic and to the use and occupation of
the lands, accentuate in the area the genesis of lineal erosive processes, forming ravines and voçorocas
(AMORIM, 2011).
With respect to the social conflicts, the areas destined to the Integral Protection are disputed by
farmers and companies devoted to eucalyptus forestry that utilize areas that should be delimited as
buffer zones of the Parks, and, the native population that requires from FUNAI the annexation of the
area of the National Park Monte Pascoal to its lands.
Considering the Maps 01 and 02 it can be observed that within the National Park of Monte
Pascoal is located the first continental portion sighted by the Portuguese, when they discovered Brazil.
Besides the historical importance, this Conservation Unit is one of those to group a diversity of
ecosystems, as the Atlantic Forest, Vegetation of Marsh, Sandbank and Marshlands. The ecosystems
found in the Park are widely diversified, although it is the Atlantic Forest the dominant formation
resulting of geological, edaphic and ecological peculiarities.
The effective protection of the existing natural resources in those National Parks is fundamental
for the maintenance of many animal and vegetable species threatened of extinction, besides being
consisted of an area where there is a native tribe preserved, resulting in a valuable cultural collection.
The area of the three Parks present, as showed on Map 04, the Stable Environmental State, in the
areas of Primary Forest, the Average Stable Environmental State in the areas that present Secondary
Vegetation in Initial Period of Regeneration.
It is recommended for all the Units of Integral Protection:
 The development of scientific researches, considering the strong degree of endemism of species in
the area, turning the area entirely restricted to the human occupation, complying with the § 3, of
the Art. 8 of the law that regulates the SNUC, that affirms the scientific research depends on prior
authorization of the responsible body for the administration of the unit and it is subject to the
conditions and restraints established, as well as those pursuant to the regulation.
 Follow-up by the relevant bodies of the anthropic actions surround the area of the parks. It is
proposed a monitoring of the physical conditions of the landscape regarding the vulnerability of
the erosive processes, thus avoiding the population that inhabits this sector, in improper way, it
suffers material and life damages;
 Implementation of measures that guarantee the recuperation of the Atlantic Forest vegetation,
aiming to reduce the impact of the rain on the soil, which causes the erosive processes, as well as
the maintenance of the rivers sources situated at the Environmental Systems placed on the Tops of
Coastal Plain;
 Protect the vegetable cover associated to the areas at valley bottom, avoiding the erosive processes
of the margins, and consequently the siltation of the channels;
 In case the park allows public visitation, then it should be submitted to the norms and restraints
established in the Management Plan of the unit, to the norms established by the body responsible
for its administration, and to those norms under regulation;
 It is recommended for these areas that the natural vegetable cover be preserved. For such, it will be
necessary to impede the progress of the urbanization process towards the buffer zone of the parks
and monitor the rural estates installed in the borders of the parks.
Besides the Units of Integral Protection, it is suggested the maintenance and enlargement of the
areas of Environmental Conservation of sustainable use, that is defined by the Federal Law nr.
9,985, from July 18, 2000 as territorial space and its environmental resources, including the
jurisdictional waters, with prominent natural characteristics, lawfully instituted by the Public Power
with objectives of conservation and define limits, under the special regime of administration to which
apply adequate guarantees of protection. Conservation is the rational utilization of any resource to
obtain an income considered good, guaranteeing, however, its renewal or its self-sustaining. Similarly,
environmental conservation means the appropriate use of the environment within the limits capable to
maintain its quality and balance in acceptable levels. For the Brazilian legislation, "to conserve"
implies to handle, use with care, to maintain; while "preserve" is more restrictive: means not to use or
not to permit any significant human intervention.
In Brazil there are several laws establishing EPAs (Environmental Protection Area) that are
spaces of the Brazilian territory, defined as such and delimited by the Government (Union, state or
town) whose protection is necessary to guarantee the welfare of the future and present populations and
the environment ecologically balanced.
On the EPAs declared by the states and towns it could be established criteria and complementary
norms (of restraint to the use of its natural resources), taking into account the local reality, in special
the situation of the traditional communities that might inhabit such regions. The use of the natural
resources in the EPAs alone can only happen since it does not "threaten the integrity of the attributes
that justify its protection" (BRAZIL, Federal Constitution, art. 225, § 1st, III, 1990).
The areas of Environmental Conservation of sustainable use in the Region Costa do
Descobrimento were delimited from 1994 with the purpose to conserve the biodiversity and the natural
resources situated in the coastal line.
According to Amorim (2011) the Region Costa do Descobrimento compartmentalized the areas
indicated for the Environmental Conservation of sustainable use in three units of Environmental
Zoning: (A) Environmental Conservation of sustainable use implanted; (b) Environmental
Conservation – creation of EPAs; and, (c) Environmental Conservation – creation of RPPNs.
The Environmental Conservation zones delimitation of sustainable use already implanted
(MAP 3) respects the limit of the three Environmental Protection Areas (EPAs) delimited in the areas
under study: the EPA of Santo Antonio, situated between the towns of Belmonte and Santa Cruz
Cabrália; the EPA of Coroa Vermelha, between the towns of Santa Cruz Cabrália and Porto Seguro
and; the EPA of Caraíva/Trancoso, located in the south portion of Porto Seguro.
It is noteworthy that the simple demarcation of those Units of Conservation does not guarantee
the adequate use of the available resources, since the region under study suffers enough pressure. Over
the last 20 years, in consequence of the expansion of the tourist activity in the region, it has been
observed, in special, the growth of the urban infrastructure in the EPAs of Coroa Vermelha and
Caraíva/Trancoso as consequence of the expansion of the tourism in the region.
These Units of Conservation are situated in different Geosystems with different Environmental
State and Levels of Occupation. In the area of the EPA of Santo Antonio the complexity in the
organization of the natural systems, either on the Coastal Plain or on the Coastal Tabuleiros (kind of
flat plain surface), the environmental fragility of the area is highlighted.
In this EPA, at the non-occupied portions there are still fragments of the original biomes: the
Mangrove situated at the estuaries, the Sandbank that re-covers the Spodosoils and the Quartzarenic
Neosoils of the Sea Terraces, and the Atlantic Forest, that in its different extracts re-cover the shallow
soils of the Plain Slopes, with its declivities over 20%, as well as the areas of top, with declivities lower
than 3%, and well developed soils like the Yellow Latosoils – Map 01 (AMORIM, 2011).
At the EPA of Santo Antonio, in the areas whose occupation is predominantly rural, the Sea
Terraces recovered by Sandbank, were replaced by permanent cultivations as the coconut from Bahia
and also by pastures, and on the Top of the plains, the devastated Atlantic Forest gave way to pastures.
The areas which the natural vegetable cover presents low degree of anthropic interference, the
Environmental State is Stable, while in the areas where such vegetation was replaced by agricultural
activities, as the plantation of coconut from Bahia, the plantation of pastures and the family agriculture,
the Environmental State is Unstable, because they are subject to high erosive processes and to impacts
associated to the ground compaction due to the cattle trampling.
The EPA of Coroa Vermelha is located within four natural systems that present big
environmental fragility: The coral reefs associated to the Marshes of the Coastal Plain, the Sandbank
that recovers the Sea Terraces and the Atlantic Forest that predominates over the Coastal Plains. In this
proposal of Environmental Zoning, the EPA of Coroa Vermelha will be analyzed within the areas of
restricted use to be discussed subsequently, for this Unit of Conservation has its limits overlapping an
area of native indigenous land.
The EPA of Caraíva-Trancoso is the Unit of Conservation that presents the highest degree of
anthropic presence, that is, it is the EPA that presents the biggest diversity in the use and occupation of
the lands.
The area of the Caraíva-Trancoso EPA presents predominantly features associated to the
Barreiras Group resulting of morphogenetic processes consequent of the marine action that carve the
cliffs, and also the recess of the paleocliffs through processes of ravines and voçoroca actions.
At this Unit of Conservation the areas where the natural vegetable cover is preserved, the
Environmental State is Stable, while in the areas where it was replaced by agricultural activities we
have Unstable Environmental State. For the management of the soil, mainly in the areas of native and
rural settlement, the techniques of rudimentary plantation are still applied, while in the eucalyptus
plantation areas and those with extensive livestock farming the Environmental State is Critical.
The resulting impacts of the ground compaction, either due to the trample of the cattle or to the
use of machinery in the management of the forests of eucalyptus, interfere into the streams of matter
and energy of those Geosystems, mostly concerning the streams of water and active pedogenetic
processes.
The Environmental State is Very Critical in the urban area of the district of Trancoso, for the
pressure of the urban disorganized growth, without the basic infrastructure, has caused environmental
damages, such as the contamination of the groundwater by the aseptic tanks and by the sewer released
untreated into brooks and channels, as well as the deforestation and the cut of slopes for the urban
expansion. Around the occupied areas, in the EPA of Trancoso-Caraiva, the rural colony predominates
with the exception of the urban area of the district of Trancoso, where the rural colony predominates.
In order to keep those areas conserved, it is necessary the implementation of fundamental
measures to be incorporated to the use and occupation, as the improvement of the vegetable cover,
avoiding the advancement of the occupation towards the mangroves and the sandbank, that causes
environmental damages associated to the contamination by domestic effluents and trash, besides the
deforestation that diminishes the biodiversity. A suggestion would be the creation of forest strips and
biocorridors, trying to interconnect the remainders of Atlantic Forest and also the vegetation of
Sandbank and Mangroves, enabling the migration of species and thus forcing the degraded areas to
naturally be rehabilitated.
Another suggestion focusing these areas would be the conservation of the riparian forest around
the channels of first order, enabling the decrease of capacity of infiltration and increasing the
superficial runoff, aggravating the erosive processes, since the quaternary and tertiary deposits of the
area present high fragility to the erosive processes.
The establishing and/or implementation of management plans for these Units of Conservation is
somewhat indispensable for the vegetable cover fragments maintenance avoiding this way the
exposition of the soil to the wheathering processes. It is also important to set out the practices of
conservation of the soils in the already productive areas to avoid the exhaustion of the productive
capacity. Regarding the urban occupation, it is important to have the urban planning so, the already
occupied areas are endowed of infrastructure, mainly basic sanitation, paving and public lighting,
enabling security, health and adequate dwelling for the population. The EPA of Coroa Vermelha
deserves special attention, since the process of disorganized occupation occurs in the urban area of the
district of Coroa Vermelha, where dwellings made of mud and wood are found having no connections
to sanitary net systems, releasing the sewer straightly into the channels or into aseptic tanks. In that
case the action of the public power, in the federal, state, and municipal spheres, is deeply important for
the accomplishment of the necessary improvements, thus avoiding the environmental stress of the area.
The areas indicated for Environmental Conservation of sustainable use: proposal of
implementation, indicated on the Map 3, would be areas that encircle the areas of environmental
protection with limitless use and present significant fragments of the coastal biomes, associated to the
agropastoral and/or forestry practices in the region.
It is proposed the creation of EPAs and/or the expansion of those units area situated around the
National Park Monte Pascoal, National Park of Descobrimento and the National Park Pau Brasil. For
the creation of these Units of Conservation, we have to consider what is proposed by Brasil (2000,
p.33):
Art. 22. The units of conservation are created by act of the Government.
(..)
§ 2nd The creation of a unit of conservation should be preceded of technical studies and public
consultation that allow to identify the location, the dimension and the most adequate limits for
the unit, in agreement with the regulation provision.
As those areas are located predominantly situated on the Environmental Systems of the Plain
Tops, whose soils present good agricultural aptitude like Latosoils and Argisolis, low declivities (lower
than 3%) that enable the mechanization of the agricultural output and the volumes of rains always over
1,800 mm per year, present an economic potential for the development of agricultural and forestry
activities. Such areas must, above all, develop economic activities of sustainable nature. It is important
to preserve the forest fragments and stimulate the creation of biocorridors, planning the interaction
between the species and also develop agricultural practices that take into consideration the productive
potential of soil and its fragility due to erosive processes.
It is suggested that in the areas indicated for the implementation and/or expansion of EPAs in the
region and have already developed activities connections to the Forestry of Eucalyptus, be developed a
differentiated plan of management that takes in medium and long terms to the substitution of
eucalyptus by agroecological systems of cultivation of agricultural products that meet the local
demands.
In consequence of the previous economic cycles that were responsible for the configuration of the
Anthropic Systems of the region under study, many isolated fragments of Atlantic Forest are encircled
by productive Environmental Systems, like the Environmental Forestry Systems and the Rural
Environmental Systems. The suggestion for these areas, since they are remaining of Atlantic Forest
situated in private estates, would be the Environmental Conservation zones creation: suggestion of
creation of RPPNs (MAP 03). According to Brasil (2000, p. 32):
Art. 21. The Private Reserve of the Natural Patrimony is a private area, recorded with
perpetuity, with the objective of conserving the biological diversity.
§ 1st The lien that treats this article will be comprised of term of commitment signed before the
environmental organ, that will verify the existence of public interest, and will be registered
alongside the inscription in the Public Record of Properties.
§ 2nd It will be only permitted, in the Private Reserve of the Natural Patrimony pursuant to the
regulation:
I - scientific research;
II - visitation with educational, recreational, tourist objectives;
The creation of the RPPNs would occur at the Coastal Plains. The rural owners will be able to
use these areas as an alternative source of income, if they choose to use these areas for recreational
and tourist purposes.
Besides the Units of Conservation created by the governmental action, at Costa do
Descobrimento, there are also Units of Occupation delimited by the Federal Government: the Native
Lands and the Rural Settlements.
The native communities that present their situation regularized, and those in process of
regularization, have their lands delimited predominantly at the Coastal Plains, areas with agricultural
aptitude, not just due to well-developed soils, as the Yellow Latosoils, but also due to its low
declivity, good permeability and high rainfall.
Based on the resulting conflicts of the possession of the land by the native communities, the
Zones of restricted use – native occupation (MAP 03) were defined. These Zones are straightly
linked to the politics of resettlement of the native population to its original area. Such settlements
have been a challenge in the south region of the Bahia, for the traditional communities migrated from
their areas of origin, in a series of conflicts during the colonial period, and whose victims, the few
remaining, are spread around the national territory, requiring from the government the historical
retraction of its physical-cultural identity – according to them, possible by the return of their lands.
Having in mind the appropriation of the areas insertion that should be destined to the integral
protection of the native communities, Brasil (2000, p. 33) affirms:
Art. 23. The possession and the use of the areas occupied by the traditional populations in the
Extractive Reserves and Reserves of Sustainable Development shall be regulated by contract,
pursuant to the terms of this Law.
§ 1st the populations concerning this article must participate of the preservation, recuperation,
defense and maintenance of the unit of conservation.
§ 2nd the use of the natural resources by the populations concerning this article shall obey to the
following rules:
I - prohibition of the use of species locally threatened of extinction or practices that damage
their habitat;
II - prohibition of practices or activities that prevent the natural regeneration of the ecosystems;
III - other norms established in the legislation, in the Plan of Management of the unit of
conservation and in the real right concession contract of use.
The natives of the region Costa do Descobrimento present an aptitude to the development of
agricultural activities, highlighting the mixed farming. Another economic activity developed by the
native communities is the tourism, mainly to the villages situated near to the urban nucleus like Coroa
Vermelha and Barra Velha.
The native community of Barra Velha, for example, has its nucleus installed very close to the
town of Caraíva in which a communal center was raised aiming to service the tourist, as well as the
native community of Coroa Vermelha, that is situated in the area of the EPA of Coroa Vermelha. This
area, over the last 20 years, has suffered transformations in consequence of the urban expansion of the
district of Coroa Vermelha, which, in order to meet the demands of the tourist activity, extended the
installation of the tourist trade tourist near the coastal line, thus enabling a stream of people that
boosts the commerce of workmanship at the highway margins. The native community is situated at
the margins of the BA-001, in the direction towards the city of Santa Cruz Cabrália. It is possible to
observe that the dwellings made of mud and wood have no connections to the sanitary net systems,
releasing the effluents into channels or aseptic tanks. In that case, the action of the government in the
town, state and federal spheres is deeply important for the accomplishment of the necessary
improvements to avoid the environmental stress of the area.
The community of Mata Medonha, located on the Basin of Santo Antonio River and the
community Tupinambá de Belmonte, situated in the low lands of the Basin of Jequitinhonha River are
also in process of regulation. In case of the first one, complementary studies were requested, while in
the second one, it is still in process of planning. The expansion and/or creation of new areas of native
occupation cause serious social conflicts; therefore it is necessary that the landowners have their farms
expropriated for the legalization of the native land.
The native community Barra Velha claims the annexation of the area of the National Park of
Monte Pascoal, area with one of the most expressive remainders of Atlantic Forest of the south of the
Bahia. It is believed that the annexation of the Park to the native lands can commit the sustainability
of the area, since the substitution of the natural vegetable cover by the agricultural activity, or even the
vegetable and animal extraction are going to commit the dynamic of the natural systems.
It is suggested that, in those zones, the communities preserve the traditions and the cultural
wealth, receiving support from FUNAI and other public organs of research in the achievement of
studies for the elaboration of a Plan of Management, orienting the anthropic actions, in the area,
mainly connected to the mixed farming with use of agroecological techniques that do not threaten the
fertility of the soil. It is necessary to orient the native population to recuperate the vegetable cover,
mainly around the fluvial channels of first order, planning to revitalize the headwaters. It is also
needed to orient the native communities to avoid the occupation in the areas where the coastal biomes
are still preserved, being able in these areas only develop activities connected to the catching of fish
and crustaceans in the periods permitted by law.
It is necessary that in those areas occur the accomplishment of public politics of rational use of
the landscape, since these communities are situated in areas bordering the urban areas. It is important
to implant infrastructure of sanitary exhaustion not only in the adjacent urban areas, but also integrate
this system to the native communities to prevent the contamination of the superficial and subsurfacial
water resources. It is also relevant to prevent the cut of slopes, for those areas are situated in spots
with risks of landslides. It is necessary as well to orient the native population with regard to wooden
extraction, that if it is carried out in a disorganized manner can cause environmental imbalances,
mainly the extinction of species and that the exposition of the soil can trigger lineal erosive processes,
like the ravines and voçorocamento processes.
Concerning the regularization of the native lands, it is recommended that the Federal
Government accelerate the cases of the native communities Mata Medonha, Cahy-Pequi and
Tupinambá de Belmonte. It is not recommended the annexation of the area of the National Park
Monte Pascoal to the community Barra Velha.
The zones of Rational transformation of the environmental systems (MAP 03) includes the
Environmental Systems that present a system of mixed use, it means, that in a small territorial stretch
present at least three different kinds of occupation of the land.
These zones coincide with areas of Hills and Small Mountains in the town of Belmonte, and in
areas of Coastal Plains in the towns of Porto Seguro and Prado.
In the portions situated in the town of Belmonte, the cultivation of the cocoa, under the shady
slopes of the Atlantic Forest associated to the pastures and plantation of eucalyptus make this area
complex, mainly related to the planning. Eminent conflicts emerge in this area, for the expansion of the
forestry of eucalyptus and the eminent recuperation of the cocoa farming make of those areas favorite
spots for the expansion of such plantations.
Concerning the areas of rational Transformation of the environmental systems located in Porto
Seguro and Prado, the conflicts among the expansion of the agricultural activities, the growth of
tourism and the advancement of the urbanization also turn them into future expansion areas of those
activities.
These areas are considered issues concerning the application of the following measures: the
conservation measures implementation of soil, enabling the improvement of the vegetable cover, even
the creation of forest strips and bio-corridors, basically next to the riverbed and streams and on the
slopes that are strategic environmental systems, on which the regional environmental stability depends.
In this case it is accepted a process of occupation, but it has to be environmentally rational, that
is, that adopts agricultural practices and/or the installation of livestock farming, taking the due cares to
avoid impacts to the environment. That area presents predominantly the rural colony and having such
fact in mind; one must pay attention to the kind of building for the release of effluents and forms of
trash waste, since those actions can generate damages to the Environmental Systems.
For the zones of Rational Transformation of the environmental systems situated at the
Environmental Systems on the Top of Coastal Plains, it is considered possible the installation in some
areas of agroecological use. It is suggested the fruits and vegetable production farms on the slopes of
the Plains. It is possible to implant the intensive or joint poultry breeding.
For the areas situated at the Environmental Systems of the Coastal Plain, it is possible an
occupation for the tourist exploitation and, within limits, home for summer vacation construction,
and/or the installation of tourist trade, like inns and hotels. In order to have a better structure of urban
development, it is necessary to entirely fulfill the norms of the National Program of Coastal
Management, and to adopt the global references of occupation on the coastline. It is fundamental the
outright creation of management and programs of monitoring related to the forms of occupation,
specially the urban occupation to turn them out compatible with the quality of life and environment.
For the zones of Rational transformation of the environmental systems next to the urban
areas, it is recommended the construction of residences. The use of those areas should be backed by the
Master Plan that shall govern the politics of urban development of the area. The area environmental
features should be considered, like the geomorphological stability and the low declivity. Such
characteristics are important, as they shall facilitate the implementation of basic infrastructure as the
streets paving, the basic sanitation net installation and the treated water network, as well as the public
lighting.
In order to meet the suggested proposals it will be fundamental to follow some principles: fight
the advancement of the urban expansion, conserve a low demographic density, preserve the channels of
drainage and ponds, keep as much as possible the vegetable cover, install infrastructure (of trash
collection, sewer, water, environmental protection), perform practices of management to conserve soil
and water, encourage the mixed farming, give technical support to the small farmers and to the rural
settlements.
The zones of Environmental Improvement are directly linked to agricultural, agropastoral and
pastoral activities (MAP 03). Those zones are situated predominantly the flat portions, with declivities
lower than 3%, of the Coastal Plains, ideal conditions for the plantation of pasture and growth of beef
cattle with excellent market value, besides the development of temporary and permanent cultivations
such as papaya and sugarcane.
For these areas it proposed the implementation of studies aimed at the use and conservation of the
soils and the water resources.
It is also proposed the creation of actions that enable a sustainable use of the area, organizing
rationally the forms of use and occupation of the lands. It is essential to conserve the spots of Atlantic
Forest and the Riparian Forest intersected with the agricultural production, as well as, performs
practices of management that conserve soil and the water and avoid problems like the erosive
processes, the soils compression, decrease of water streams, and the contamination of the soils by
agricultural inputs. The ideal for these zones is the development of consortium practices, avoiding the
implementation a single activity. Another recommendation is the conservation of the vegetation of
Mussurunga, not using it as a natural pasture, besides that, encouraging the mixed farming and giving
technical support to the small farmers and to the rural settlements.
The zones of Conservation of the place and stimulus to the local development comprise urban
centers of the towns under study. The Environmental State in all the urban areas were classified as
Very Critical (MAP 04), for the elevated degree of occupation increases the pressures over the
resources, mainly the disorganized growth of the urban areas which causes environmental impacts
related to the lack of basic infrastructure, like the contamination of the water resources by effluents
released into rivers and/or by infiltration of the aseptic tanks into the water table, the accumulation of
trash, the deforestation and the cuts of slopes for the construction of new dwellings, among others.
The growth of the cities and the consequent installation of the urban infrastructure alter the
dynamic of the streams of matter and energy of the Geosystems caused by soil sealing, removal of the
riparian forest and occupation of the larger bed of the rivers, cuts of cliffs and slopes, removal of the
natural vegetable cover, among other environmental problems.
In the zones under study, the occupation of the areas near the slopes of Coastal Plain, for
example, are subject to the erosive processes as ravines and voçorocas and even to landslides, and in
the portions connected to the fluvio-marine and marine origin stuff accumulation areas are subject to
the floods and floodings.
The main effort shall be performed in a way to enable the local community a better distribution of
income and permit the re-establishment of the characteristics of the place, by means of a local
development process.
The conservation of the architectural patrimony built in the nucleus of the towns that compose the
Region Costa do Descobrimento, since these are memory of the process of territorial organization,
being added to the natural patrimony of the region, configure setting for the regional tourist activity.
The local population shall have a main role in the appropriation of the locality, implementing the
economic activities connected to the commerce and service, giving more emphasis to the tourist
activity.
Facing the external investments in tourism, the participation of the local population in the tourist
activity has been limited to fill the necessary job offers for the development of such activity. It is
suggested, then, that the local community create alternatives of participation in the tourist circuit, as the
creation of folk groups, organization of cultural festivals, and revitalization of cultural and religious
traditions. The insertion of new tourist attractions created by the community shall enable a better
distribution of the income of the tourism, that, in the present situation, is concentrated in the hands of
the owners of hotels, inns, travel agencies and barkeepers, restaurants and beach booths and, mostly,
they are migrants from other Brazilian States, even from other countries.
The location and implementation of environmental and theme parks, linked to the culture and to
the local environment should be considered.
It is recommended for these zones the restraint in the construction of buildings in the zone of
beach and nearby areas. In the areas with spontaneous urban development, perform project of urban
renewal, with the construction of popular houses and/or housing assemblies, with the installation of
basic infrastructure, as the streets paving, installation of basic sanitation (net of water and sanitary
exhaustion), construction of sport centers, health centers, schools, police booths and public lighting, not
only in the redeveloped areas, but also in the areas where those services are still lacking In the areas
with urban development already consolidated, always perform works of maintenance in the
infrastructure (public lighting, paving, basic sanitation) and take the due cares with the collection of
trash, removing the trash from the drains and channels, as well as implant the selective trash collection
and encourage the recycling factories creation.
Regard the use of the beaches; avoid the contamination by trash and domestic, commercial and
industrial effluents of the sand and the water that threatens the use of the beaches.
In the historical centers, carry out restorations of the architectural patrimony and develop
economic activities that provide the preservation of the cultural patrimony and the sustainability of the
population.
The Agricultural Environmental Systems that have the cocoa farming as main economic activity
were defined as zones of Environmental Rehabilitation.
The zones of Environmental Rehabilitation are areas that need environmental cares. That
implies in the restoration of the environmental systems not bringing back to the original state, but to a
healthier level.
The cultivation of eucalyptus in the Region Costa do Descobrimento occurs in two areas: in the
Fluvial plain of Rio Jequitinhonha, that presents low declivities (lower than 3%) and fluvial origin
soils, that preserve the upper extracts of the Riparian Forest; and on the slopes of the Hills and Small
Mountains in the Pre-Coastal Plateau, with predominance of clay soils, declivities from 5% and 15%,
and arboreous extracts of Atlantic Forest preserved for the cocoa shading.
In case of the cocoa farming, the crisis of the productivity added to the instability in the
international market caused the decline of the cocoa price and the price rise of the inputs. Two
problems of natural order reached the area, aggravating even further the crisis of production: the
oscillation of temperature, resulting from the deforestations in the region in the years 1960-1980 that
favored the brown rot and the dissemination of the fungus Moniliophtora perniciosa, responsible for
an illness in cocoa trees popularly known as “Vassoura-de-Bruxa". The M. perniciosa attacks the
cocoa tree meristematic regions, mainly fruits, sprouts and floral cushions, causing deep fall in the
production, provoking the abnormal development followed by death of the infected part.
Due to the big economic importance of the losses caused by the vassoura-de-bruxa, numerous
efforts have been endeavored in the attempt to establish a plan economically viable and an effective
control for that disease. Out of these control strategies, the one considered the most promising is the
plantation of seedling resistant to the disease, a practice that has been widely adopted in the south of
the Bahia.
Investments have been made by the Department of the Agriculture in researches linked to the
cocoa trees species cloning, planning the creation of resistant species to the fungus, as well as the
implementation of the Program of the of Sequencing of the Genome of Vassoura-de-Bruxa, in which
participate CEPLAC, UESC, UFBA, UEFS and EMBRAPA, and other research institutions that have
been doing studies as the Institute of Biology of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP).
The process of Environmental Rehabilitation of those areas depends on the scientific research,
since the strengthening of the cocoa cultivation depends on the control and/or eradication of the disease
in the region. The cocoa cultivation is important for the Atlantic Forest species preservation, once the
agroforestry system known as cabruca keeps the species of Atlantic Forest, from the uppermost
extracts, being used for the cocoa trees shading. With the extinction of this farming, the rural producers
in order to implant other producing activities would have to knock down those species of Atlantic
Forest, opening space for agricultural and/or pastoral activities.
The town of Belmonte is the one to present the largest planted area of cocoa in the Region Costa
do Descobrimento, and the rehabilitation of this economic activity is going to boost the rural economy
of this town.
It has been verified that the zones of Partial Environmental Rehabilitation are linked to the
Environmental Forestry Systems, situated in the Geosystems placed around the Coastal Plains, on the
Hills and Small Mountains and on the Slopes and valley bottoms carved in crystalline rocky
outcroppings, in deep soils well drained and with availability of water. The physical-natural
characteristics favor the implementation of those systems in the region, so the growth of the trees is
quicker than in other parts of the world, what decreases the time of cut of the eucalyptus. The forests of
eucalyptus occupy predominantly the top areas, for the low declivities of the land facilitate the action
of the mechanization.
Observing the Map 05, it is possible to verify that these zones are not occupied areas and present
Environmental Critical State, so the activities related to the output of eucalyptus and cellulose cause
endless number of environmental impacts. As this is a monoculture activity, the traditional
reforestations of eucalyptus are represented by dense solid forests, planted in regular spacings and
normally with a single species. What is recommended for those zones is that the development of the
cultivation of eucalyptus be done in an integrated way with the agricultural activities and the livestock
farming or, even, as service providers, like windbreaks, hedges, protection of animals, without,
however, forgetting its potential to generate economic products. In order to have success in that
undertaking, it is necessary to consider the spacing of the forest species. In those systems less
plantation densities are normally used and different spatial arrangements of the forest species in the
field (RIBASKI, 2003).
In the Region Costa do Descobrimento the cultivation of eucalyptus has been developed in a
densed way, which on its turn on results in a production of a high number of trees with small diameters,
which normally are utilized for less noble purposes, as firewood, coal, cellulose, crates and stakes for
fences. Upon developing this kind of cultivation, it is developed a higher number of trees by hectare,
thus absorbing higher volume of water and available nutrients in the soils.
In order to avoid an exhaustion of the productive potential soils and also a deficit of the water
resources in the region, it is recommended the eucalyptus plantation techniques application that uses
broader spacings, resulting in a lower number of plants by unit of area, becoming easier the access of
machines for the plantation and cultivations. Such action facilitates equally the removal of the wood
and employs less labor, as well as it allows a wood production of better commercial value.
In the high-quality wooden output for sawmill, it is necessary that the spaces between the plants
are over the normal ones. Thus, the forest management shall be based on frequent and rigorous
pruning, in order to achieve a market with higher prices, upon a merchandise of higher added value.
This way, the implementation of colonies, properly oriented, is naturally an excellent alternative to
integrate the forest, agricultural activities and livestock farming into a system of mixed production.
Ribaski (2003) affirms that the practices of management with eucalyptus, characterized by broad
initial spacings, early and heavy thinning and high pruning, are proven to be better than the traditional
ones, resulting in good quality wood production with good economic results. Beyond that, it permits
the penetration of high levels of radiation in the sub-forest levels, which, by its turn, favors the
satisfactory development of other species also with economic value.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The results obtained in the elaboration of this environmental zoning show that, in the Region
Costa do Descobrimento, situated in the State of Bahia, there is a population number above the 185
thousand inhabitants, around 75% are living in the urban area and the remainder, approximately 25%,
in the rural area. It has been observed that the economic activities in the region present great diversity,
standing out, in the primary sector, the extensive livestock farming, the output of agricultural property
as coco-da-baía, papaya, coffee, cocoa and sugarcane and, from the 90s, the activities connected to the
cultivation of eucalyptus and output of cellulose, besides the strengthening and growth of the tourism
come to the region
The study of the natural attributes of the region enabled to identify that in the area predominates
the morphogenesis over the pedogenesis, for the transformations in the modeled occur either in the
coast line, where the erosive processes act in the beaches, in the active cliffs, or also on the paleocliffs.
On these ones the superficial runoff and the oscillations in the level of the water tables have triggered
the formation of ravines and voçorocas.
There is a proportion unbalance between the areas where predominate the Geosystems with part
of their natural attributes preserved and/or conserved and the areas where predominate elements of the
anthropic systems. In the areas where predominate the natural systems, the Conservation Units aims to
establish its protection. The areas still not protect by such lawful mechanism, as the areas of forested
slopes, vegetation of Sandbank and vegetation of Marshlands present strong tendency to the resulting
environmental transformations arising of the population growth, the urban expansion of the insertion of
agricultural cultivations, plantation of pastures or eucalyptus and the use of the natural resources.
The environmental systems of the Region Costa do Descobrimento present fragility to natural
degradation processes, as the Movements of Matter on the slopes of the Coastal Palins and the floods
and floodings in the areas with declivities lower than 2% situated in the Coastal Plain.
The environmental fragility is highlighted in the areas urbanized by the high demographic
density. The concentrated and disorganized occupation generates the exhaustion of the natural
resources, unbalancing the streams of matter, energy and information in the Geosystems.
In the Environmental Systems situated in the Fluvial Plain, in the Fluvio-Marine Plain and in the
Marine Terrace the urban expansion caused the soil sealing that stops the infiltration of the water, as
well as caused the plumbing of the water courses. Such factors related to the low declivities, to the
rainfall dynamic and to the influences of the tides cause in the area floods and floodings.
The way the infrastructure of these Environmental Systems is installed and distributed cause
impacts, like the contamination of the groundwater levels by the aseptic tanks, the accumulation of
trash, the pollution of the waters, the air and visual, injuring this way the quality of life of the
population.
In the Environmental Systems situated on the Coastal Plains, the complexity in the forms of use
and occupation of the lands triggered several environmental conflicts, relating the traditional
population to the new investors, either in the tourist sector or also in the forestry of eucalyptus. The
urban areas, mainly in the towns of Porto Seguro and Santa Cruz Cabrália, by the increase in the
demand of service and urban equipments, have expanded in the direction of the Coastal Plains,
occupying areas where previously there were activities connected to the primary sector and also to the
remainder of Atlantic forest.
In the areas where the hills and small mountains are situated, the substitution of the natural
vegetable cover for the insertion of the pasture prevailed. The impacts related to the occupation of
those areas are directly related to the ground trampling of the cattle which triggers erosive processes.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
AMORIM, R. R. Análise Geoambiental como subsídio ao uso e ocupação das terras da Região
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Campinas, Campinas. 2011.
BRAZIL. Constitution (1988). Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil: Promulgated in
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BRAZIL. Law nr. 9.985, from 18 of July of 2000. Regulates the art. 225, § 1st, Items I, II, III and VII
from the Federal Constitution, establishes the National System of Units of Conservation of the Nature
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RIBASKI, J. . Cultivo do Eucalipto. Sistemas de Produção, 4. Electronic version. Curitiba, 2003
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RODRIGUEZ, J. M. M.; SILVA, E. D.; CAVALCANTI, A. P. B. Geoecologia da paisagem: uma
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