Diagnóstico ambiental da praia de Jenipabu (Extremoz-RN)

Abstract

The beach environment in the tropics is recognized as an important leisure area for local residents and tourists. However, it is verified that the rise of unrestrained use and occupation of this region, implies in its increasing environmental degradation, at the same time that it affects its esthetic value, which may lead to the reduction of its attractiveness to users, resulting in economic retraction in regions dependent on the tourism industry. On the eastern coast of Rio Grande do Norte, Jenipabu beach, one of the main tourist attractions in the State, has been the target of an intense unplanned anthropic occupation, which has resulted in environmental, social, economic and political impacts. In this context, this work proposes to elaborate a diagnosis of the natural and anthropic conditions of the beach of Jenipabu / RN, based on the methodological proposals of the Orla Project. To achieve the research goals, the methodology used involved the evaluation of the beach through environmental indicators; the qualitative and quantitative survey of the solid waste present in the sand of the beach and the count of the beach users during a horizon of six months. The results identified areas of the beach with different uses and moderate solid waste concentration in the busiest section. The beach obtained indicator B for the natural aspects and the C for the anthropics. Although Jenipabu Beach exhibit a natural landscape with a high tourist attraction, some problems were identified, such as the disordered traffic of vehicles and irregular constructions in the frontal dunes, that impact the natural conditions of the place and tourist attractiveness of this environmental unit. The gathering of this information and elaboration of the scenarios, alerted to the need for mitigating measures and to subsidize the political actions towards the construction of an environmental plan more suited to the local needs.