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Korman, V.
Proposta de interliga‡Æo das glebas do Parque Estadual de Vassununga (Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, SP)
2003  Full Book

The native ecosystems in the SÆo Paulo State are very fragmented, therefore, the network of natural preserves becomes essential for the conservation of the remaining biodiversity. The total area of the Vassununga Park, in Santa Rita do Passa Quatro municipality, SÆo Paulo, Brazil, is 2069,24 hectares, but divided in six independent fragments - one of them covered mostly by savannah and the others of seasonal forest. The aim of this study was to identify potential areas to link the fragments of the Park, using Geographic Information System, as well as to indicate proposals for a better use of the lands around the Park considering the structural elements of landscape (matrix, habitat fragments and corridors). Field diagnoses were carried out, in order to detect the main impacts in the surrounded matrix and to confront the actual land use with Brazilian environmental legislation. Some spatial indices of the landscape were calculated and a potential soil loss map, using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), were also developed. The analysis of the studied area revealed that Vassununga Park is located in a very fragmented landscape, with a low percentage of native ecosystems and it has been submitted to pressures caused by human activities in the surrounding areas. The application of the USLE showed that the highest risk of potential erosion is close to the watershed and rivers. These results were important to direct proposals for the interconnection of the Park fragments, first by the regularization of the preserved areas according to the Brazilian legislation and secondly by indicating the most adequate sites to install corridors and stepping stones, restoring damaged areas and protecting water resources and the ecosystems of Vassununga Park, followed by suggestion of land use changes. The connection of the six fragments of the Vassununga Park, through corridors or stepping stones, and also the sustainable use of land surrounding it, are very important procedures for the biodiversity maintenance of this Park and region.

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