Quality of Life and Socioenvironmental Degradation in the Cantareira System Environmental Protected Area, SP, Brazil

Abstract

Studies on quality of life can contribute to a better understanding of situations where socioenvironmental transformations are evident, from environmental, social, cultural, and political perspectives. This paper analyzes the quality of life of the inhabitants of the Moinho rural settlement in the context of the surrounding conditions of environmental degradation. Moinho is located in Nazaré Paulista municipality, which belongs to the Cantareira System Environmental Protected Area (Cantareira EPA), state of São Paulo, Brazil. The methodology used was based on secondary data collection and interviews with local residents. The results explore the interface between the transformation of land use and the growing change of rural life that are greatly influenced by expanding urban sprawl in the region. Over recent decades, changes in the production systems, substitution of agriculture crops, and the impacts of these variables on environmental health and water availability, as well as damage to the Municipal Human Development Index (HDI-M) of its municipalities, are indicators of the region’s present social complexity. This study shows that an improvement in the quality of life has an intimate relationship with the creation of sustainable economic activities and the real participation of the local population in decision making processes.

Megaprojects - Socioeconomic and Environmental Dynamics in D. Pedro I-Tamoios Road Axis, São Paulo, Brazil

“…Both regions -São Paulo North Sea Coast and Bragantina are recognised for their extreme importance in the state of São Paulo from landscape, demographic, socio-environmental and economic point of view [3,6]. The geographic and guiding design of the study that provides the base for this article sought to approach the two regions, from the road axis that interconnects them, highlighting the different Conservation Units present in this geographic and landscape space ( These highways allow connecting the capital -São Paulo -to other municipalities of the state, Viracopos International Airport, in Campinas, and São Sebastião Port, in São Sebastião municipality.…”

“…These changes are already observed in the region and have a substantial impact on the resident's lives, from an objective and subjective point of view. The main differences are in the land use, degradation of natural resources [5], in the pattern of mental health, an increase in data of crime and violence rates [6][7][8].…”