ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY IN A RURAL COMMUNITY IN THE SURROUNDING AREA OF THE RESTINGA DE J URUBATIBA NATIONAL PARK (RJ, BRAZIL )

Abstract

In Brazil, the settlements of agrarian reform are usually located in environmentally degraded previous monoculture areas. This is the case of the Settlement João Batista Soares in the municipality of Carapebus, in the north of the Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The settlement is in the surrounding area of the Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park, created to protect restinga and coastal lagoons ecosystems. In this article, we investigated if the presence of the settled people in the studied area starts or intensifies an environmental vulnerability process. In order to do so, we investigated issues such as soil characteristics, permanent preservation areas, distribution of lots, and land uses and cover, in 2005 and 2015, in Geographic Information Systems (©QGIS), with the objective of seeking evidence of the environmental vulnerability process in the area. In the settlement, there is an installed environmental vulnerability process as a result of the agricultural potential of the soils, historical land uses and distribution of lots. The environmental vulnerability could potentially affect the National Park and contribute to socioeconomic vulnerability of the settled people.