Anthropogenic actions in the southwest surroundings of the Xingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso, in the proposed area for the implementation of the Xingu River Environmental Protection Area

Abstract

The Xingu National Indigenous Park is a protected area covering 2.8 million hectares in the north of Mato Grosso, located in a transition zone between two major biomes: the Cerrado and the Amazon Forest, and is one of the most important indigenous lands in the country. Thus, the goal was to identify changes in land cover and use in the proposed area for the establishment of the Xingu River Environmental Protection Area (APA), a conservation unit proposed by the Environmental Socioeconomic Zoning of the State of Mato Grosso, located in the southwestern surroundings of the Park, over a period of 36 years. The APA would aim to protect biological diversity, discipline the occupation process and ensure the sustainability of the use of natural resources, by connecting the Xingu Indigenous Park and the Ronuro River State Ecological Station. The land cover and use data were obtained from the MapBiomas platform within a time frame covering 1985, 1995, 2005, 2015 and 2021. The results show the changes that have taken place in the landscape with the suppression of the Amazon Forest and the Cerradões, a reflection of the increase in anthropic activities. Forest areas corresponded to 89.1% of the area in 1985 and 57.5% in 2021, being replaced by pastures and soybeans. The negative environmental impact caused by the suppression of vegetation not only compromises the ecological corridors, but also affects the hydrological cycle and water availability, negatively affecting future water supply capacity. That is why it is important to implement the Xingu River APA with a management plan that protects the southwest region of the Xingu National Park.