O BINÔMIO FLORESTA-ÁGUA NO VALE DO RIO SIRIJI – PERNAMBUCO

Abstract

The colonization of the Sirigi Valley, in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, started in the second half of the 17 th century when the first plots of lands were granted to pioneers by the Portuguese Empire. Following the extraction of the Brazilian-tree (a red timber), which was really abundant timber resource in the Valley, colonists started in the 18 century to grow sugar cane, cotton, tobacco and subsistence crops like manioc, maize and beans. Meanwhile, the number of sugar-factories increased and the area became more and more populated. The 19 century witnessed a process of agricultural diversification due to the introduction of coffee and banana tree and both crops continued to diffuse throughout the Sirigi Valley until the middle of the 20 century. After 1975 and precisely due to governmental subsidies – National Alcohol Program -, sugar cane replaced much of other crops and residual sections of the tropical wet Atlantic forest as well. Those sections of residual forest are today surrounded by sugar cane in the middle section of the Valley and by banana in the high section of it. In fact, they have been more and more reduced and degraded. The regeneration of the mentioned residual sections of forests are of utmost importance to the protection of natural resources and the sustainable development of the Sirigi Valley. Palavras-chave: Mata ciliar, recursos hidricos, biodiversidade, sustentabilidade.