Local representations of change and conservation of the riparian forests along the São Francisco River (Northeast Brazil)

Abstract

Investigations of local representations about the environment allow for the elucidation of historical landscape transformation and the elaboration of strategies for environmental conservation. Thus, this study aimed to answer the following questions. How does the local population represent the possible changes in riparian vegetation over time? What historical events were responsible for these possible changes? How does the local population represent concerns related to the use and maintenance of riparian vegetation? This study was carried out with 87 informants from three communities: two rural ex-settlement communities and one quilombo in Northeastern Brazil. According to the informants, there were changes in the riparian vegetation. The main causes of these changes include the type of agriculture practiced in the region and the building of a large dam to provide water to the city of Sobradinho in the state of Bahia. However, there was no significant difference between the number of informants who said that the changes were for the worse and those who said that they were for the better. In addition, the respondents reported an increase in the abundance of exotic species and a decrease in the abundance of native species. Thus, the importance of including this group of people in the process of the forest restoration that will occur in the region is emphasized because they possess information about the past vegetation changes and their causes. They can also indicate which species should be prioritized for replanting according to their usage needs and they understand the importance of conserving riparian vegetation.

Nepenthes as Tourism Flagship Species: the Conservation Strategies in Dayak Seberuang Settlements Area

“…2). Cultures and traditional values are important factors to conserve the biodiversity [28,29]. Otherwise, cultures degradation in young generation of Dayak Seberuang People is the highest score of weakness factor with score 0.893 (Table 3).…”

Local representation of change and conservation of a Brazilian Caatinga refuge

“…The local representation of native vegetation has been recognized as important ecological knowledge when evaluating changes in landscapes in different regions of the world (GÓMEZ-LIMÓN; FERNÁNDEZ, 1999;LYKKE, 2000;XU et al, 2006;SILVA et al, 2014).…”

“…Through these studies it is possible to identify changes in a landscape based on the "vision" of local communities, since local people can indicate which species have declined over the years, and this information can be used to support restoration projects (SILVA et al, 2014) and the sustainable maintenance of local activities that use natural resources (LOPES et al, 2017).…”

“…Biodiversity conservation must incorporate social participation since it results in changes among local communities due to their connection with the environment (HUNTINGTON, 2011;MARQUES et al, 2001;SILVA et al, 2014;CARREGOSA et al, 2015).…”

“…The Caatinga represents one of the largest areas of SDTF, occupying more than 912,529 km² in northeastern Local environmental representation of a Brazilian Caatinga refuge Brazil (MORO et al, 2014;SILVA et al, 2017). Intense exploitation of Caatinga vegetation has made it the third most degraded Brazilian phytogeographic domain; 80% of this vegetation has been modii ed and there are isolated areas of desertii cation (MORO et al, 2014;SILVA et al, 2014). Furthermore, for this biome, only 1.13% is within conservation units and 6.32% in sustainable management areas (FONSECA et al, 2017).…”