Social and Environmental Impacts on Rural Communities Residing Near the Industrial Complex of Sao Luis Island, State of Maranhão, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze the major social and environmental implications of the presence of the industrial district of the city of São Luís (Brazil) over a span of 30 years. The district was established in the 1980s to receive industrial enterprises of the Grande Carajás Program, which led to the installation of a massive support infrastructure. Industrial activities have contributed substantially to rapid, definitive, irreversible changes to the way of life of the population residing near the district and have gradually altered the spatial organization of the area, with consequent harm to the natural landscape. Both the perceptions of the local population and data obtained using geotechnological tools offer evidence of the main changes having occurred and factors associated with such changes. Mangrove degradation and the loss of both natural and secondary vegetal cover were the most significant changes in the time interval studied. The main factors associated with environmental harm are industrial activities, the mineral extraction of sand and disorganized land occupation.