Urban Settlement Spatial Analysis in Permanent Preservation Area of M’boicy Watershed River, Foz do Iguaçu City in Brazil

Abstract

Irregular urban settlement increases environmental impacts, especially when these occupations occur in fragile location, as the environmental preservation areas. In these areas, also defined as Permanent Preservation Area (PPA), the presence of watersheds is common, which is the factor that increases the need of protecting them from anthropic actions. Those actions deteriorate the environment and mainly the watercourses. This research objective is to identify and estimate the environmental risks of M’Boyci watershed River PPA occupied areas by urban population. The risk analysis approach, at this PPA in Foz do Iguaçu City in Brazil, is able to support public interventions in order to reestablish the PPA natural conditions. To reach this goal, it was necessary to use cartographical representation images, generated from digital orthophotos analyzed through free geographical information systems. The overlap and the contrast of geographical data related to preservation in urban areas show that urban occupation reaches almost 40% of the permanent preservation area. Complementarily, it is evidenced that the development of a risk map identifies PPA areas characterized by a greater concentration of irregular settlement, contributing to the planning process of residents, relocation actions and recovery of degraded areas.