Construction of an environment status index for the municipalities of the river Apodi-Mossoró watershed, State of Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

This article discusses the construction of an environment status index for the 51 municipalities belonging to the Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Apodi-Mossoró (BHRAM), State of Rio Grande do Norte. The index structuring is based on the joint analysis of two types of information: the support capacity of environmental systems and the deforestation until the year 2008, according to monitoring data of the biome caatinga (MMA, 2010). The index has two qualitative classes (Unsustainability/Sustainability) and four intensity levels for each class. The application of the index enabled a broad overview of the environmental conditions of the municipalities. The study points out that 12 municipalities are within the Unsustainability class, and it is necessary that the public power adopts emergency measures to control the deforestation.