Land use and occupation of coastal tropical wetlands: Whale coast, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

This chapter aims to discuss the process of land use and occupation in coastal tropical wetlands, particularly the ones that occur at the Whale Coast, in the extreme south of the state of Bahia – Brazil, between 1984 and 2014. For this purpose, orbital images of the Landsat-TM satellite were used, which were subsequently integrated and processed in the Geographic Information System using the Envi™ software, through object-targeted classification. Throughout the text, the current standard of occupation in the Brazilian territory is addressed, which is co-validated by the gradual expansion of population and economic cycles, such as the expansion of the eucalyptus forestry, the urban area and pasture in the Whale Coast. At the same time, there is a reduction of forest occupied areas. This study has the objective of contributing with landscape evolution studies and subsiding better planning proposals for land use and occupation in coastal tropical wetlands.