Avaliação de impactos ambientais no alto curso do Rio Piranhas no segmento do município de Cajazeiras- PB.

Abstract

The present work aimed to evaluate the main impacts in a segment of the upper Piranhas River that belongs to the municipality of Cajazeiras- PB. In the study area, human activities have contributed to the emergence of degradational processes endangering the species of fauna and local flora, thus compromising the socio-economic development of its population. The main causes of environmental impacts were: the removal of the forest agriculture, use of margins by agriculture and extensive livestock, abusive use of pesticides and fertilizers, use of rudimentary cultivation and management techniques inadequate soils. As a consequence, the environment became susceptible to erosion and the sedimentation processes, causing the gradual silting up of the river. To the evaluation of these impacts used Leopold's matrix (1970) for allowing the interrelating between causes and effects in each natural and anthropogenic variable. To obtain information on the effects of degradation in the area, interviews were the local population. The results found showed an imbalance between the productive activities and the renewal of the area's natural resources, causing a exhaustion of these resources.