URBAN EXPANSION, LEGAL CONFLICTS AND SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN THE NORTH ZONE OF NATAL – CASE STUDY IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ZONE 09 (ZPA 09)
Urban growth, North Zone of Natal, Environmental Protection Zone 09, legal conflicts, socio-environmental conflicts.
After studies proving the process of environmental degradation that affects Environmental Protection Zone 09, located in the North Zone of Natal-RN, we proceeded with an assessment of the urban expansion of the North Zone and the occupation of anthropic pression in ZPA 09. This Zone of The Protection, despite not being registered in the National System of Conservation Units, houses a system of lagoons and the Rio Doce, the main freshwater river in the North Zone. Using images from LANDSAT and Cbers 4A satellites, we carried out mapping and classification of land use and cover, which revealed a series of socio-environmental conflicts that resulted from the lack of supervision in this region. The historical process of settlement and rapid urban growth that the North Zone underwent is at the genesis of these conflicts. Since pressure has been exerted on natural resources and, currently, ZPA 09 lists it as the last ecological frontier in threat of environmental degradation.