Abstract
The Conservation Units (CU) were created to protect natural environments from growing degradation and to impede the expansion of urbanization and agricultural crops. The Serra da Canastra National Park, established to protect the headwaters of the S?o Francisco River and other places of scenic and ecological interest, is extensively visited due to its many tourist attractions, such as waterfalls, fauna and flora. An analysis of the park’s geography is needed to assess the risk involved in and its suitability for public use due to its territorial extension and environmental complexities. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the background of issues of interest to CU management. Additionally, we used high-resolution RapidEye imagery, altimetry and database of park infrastructure to build geospatial database and estimate classes of suitability for and risk in public use through GIS tools. The resulting cartographic data can support the planning of policies concerning the landscape and park’s territorial management.
Highlights
The accelerated advance of anthropogenic interventions has led to increasing concerns about the impacts on natural environments, suggesting a need for government planning in favor of socioeconomic and environmental balance
It was incumbent upon the government to create “specially protected areas” across the country; these areas are public or private areas endowed with environmental attributes that require special legal rulings, ensuring their relative immutability and sustainable use [1]
To ensure the effective protection of these areas, the law specifies the elaboration of a Management Plan, a technical document that establishes the zoning and other rules that guide the use of each Conservation Units (CU) and the management of natural resources, including the building of physical structures required to manage the unit
Summary
The accelerated advance of anthropogenic interventions has led to increasing concerns about the impacts on natural environments, suggesting a need for government planning in favor of socioeconomic and environmental balance. It was incumbent upon the government to create “specially protected areas” across the country; these areas are public or private areas endowed with environmental attributes that require special legal rulings, ensuring their relative immutability and sustainable use [1]. To ensure the effective protection of these areas, the law specifies the elaboration of a Management Plan, a technical document that establishes the zoning and other rules that guide the use of each CU and the management of natural resources, including the building of physical structures required to manage the unit. For units where visitation is allowed, a Public Use Plan must be integrated into the Management Plan to ensure the conservation of its natural, historical and cultural resources; visitors’ awareness of nature; and a return of benefits for the local communities [4]. Highspatial resolution maps can be elaborated from satellite imagery, for example, to preserve parks of historic heritage [10] or in planning of trails, as made by [11] in mapping of trails and studies of its degradation in a park in Poland
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