Land use land cover and efficiency of Brazilian legal regulations in conservation units in the state of Goiás

Abstract

As it recognizes the unerring importance of the Conversation Units (CUs) for the maintenance of natural ecosystems, this article aims to evaluate the efficiency of the vegetation conservation after the legal establishment of the Terra Roque State Park (PETeR) and the Environmental Protection Area (EPA) of the Serra Geral de Goiás (APASG) as Conservation Units (CUs). Therefore, it was sought to investigate the actual implementation of the legal regulations that govern the occupation process of these two UCs, based on the mapping of land use and coverage. Brazilian Annual Land Use and Land Cover Mapping Project (MapBiomas), at different acquisition dates and processed via spatial analysis tools in a Geographic Information System. To evaluate the level of vegetative biomass and the level of conservation of the original vegetation, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was applied. The results revealed that there were better levels of natural conservation at the PETeR than at the APASG. Thus, it can be seen that, unlike APASG, PETeR is fulfilling its goal of preserving nature. The NDVI method permitted assess the spatial-temporal dynamics of the use and coverage of the land, which had alternating values depending on the phytophysiognomic type of cerrado vegetation and the characteristics of the environment, being a good complement to the analysis of the adopted procedure.