Degradação ambiental e risco a desastre desertificação nos municípios de Serra Branca e Coxixola (cariri paraibano) e Mirandela (Portugal): uma análise comparativa.

Abstract

The objective of this comparative research is to evaluate Serra Branca and Coxixola towns (located at the Cariri Paraibano – Brazil) and Mirandela town (North of Portugal). Both regions were evaluated concerning the soil degradation and identifying factors that place the populations of these towns in a high vulnerability status, face to the risks, particularly to drought disaster. The present study had been based on use of GIS (with use of TM/Landsat 5 images) between 1987 and 2004, ally to the field work and the forms application of forms to the rural families, and source of data in the analysis of the land degradation process and physical, economic, technological and social vulnerabilities on the studied area. The research evidenced that the agricultural fields are severely compromised in Cariri Paraibano. Presenting itself as a highly degradative activity of fields, the cattle raising extensive practice is the mainly practical agriculturists responsible for erosion occurrence that unchains processes of soil degradation. The soil degradation, particularly in Coxixola and Serra Branca, results the lack of conservation practical in agricultural soils, a strong social-economics limitations of the families, lack of drought mitigation infrastructure and of inadequate public polices for field population; thus demonstrating the social construction of desertification disaster risk in all researched tows. The high global vulnerability in Mirandela is a result of the general public polices in Europe, which is dissociated to the local reality in Portugal. They all had presented vulnerabilities, variable to high or very high among them, which characterize the social construction of the risks and droughts problems. This means that it will only be solved by deep partner-economic and cultural transformations in both regions.