EVALUATION OF PERMANENT PRESERVE AREAS ON PLANIMETRIC SURFACE AND MODELED SURFACE IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AREA OF PETRÓPOLIS MOUTAIN REGION - RJ

doi: 10.12957/geouerj.2016.19220 Permanent Preservation Areas (PPA), established by Brazilian environmental law, have different and important functions for the environment and ecosystem, including: preservation of water resources, landscape, geological stability, biodiversity, and healthy flows of flora and fauna, the protection of the forest floor and the guarantee of welfare for the human population. The cartographic delimitation of these areas provides for better decision-making, helping to resolve existing conflicts by detecting priority areas for the implementation of projects designed to rehabilitate degraded areas. As such, the aim of this paper is to evaluate a Permanent Preservation Areas map within the Environmental Protection Area of Petrópolis Moutain Region (APA Petrópolis). Thus, users will be able to analyze the current state of Permanent Preservation Areas and the relationship they have with the conflicting uses of those spaces. Boundaries for the Permanent Preservation Areas was delimited using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to operationalize and use Digital Elevation Models (DEM) to refine the methodology for delimiting boundaries for these areas. The areas with long water courses, springs, hillsides with slopes greater than 45 degrees, and lakes and reservoirs are some examples of preservation areas that have already been mapped according to Brazilian environmental legislation. Overlaying a land cover map, is possible to observe a high level of spatial occupation as shown in the overlapping of areas already mapped and in the orthophotos of the Brazilian Geographic and Statistical Institute