Environmental vulnerability of the Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba National Park – NRPNP

Abstract

Environmental degradation is directly linked to land use and occupation and gradual exploitation of environmental resources, causing impacts on ecosystems at different levels. This applies also to legally protected areas in regions under heavy agricultural pressure. The objective of this study was to correlate the levels of environmental vulnerability in the Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba National Park, in an area belonging to the State of Piauí, due to the analysis of vegetation cover and alteration of the landscape resulting from the management of the conservation unit. The vulnerability levels were verified using maps of the vegetation cover for the years 1996 - 2006 - 2016 through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) capable of identifying the presence of green vegetation on the surface and characterizing its spatial distribution. The measurement of vegetation cover indices by NDVI showed that a large part of the Park’s territory is vulnerable and susceptible to a high degree of environmental degradation, associated with the gradual expansion of the Cerrado vegetation withdrawal for the exploitation of natural resources in the face of the implantation of agricultural projects in the region, which is part of the transition to other plant coverages responsible for the maintenance balance of the conservation unit.