The Brazilian mangrove area, estimated in 96,268ha, represents 7% of all mangrove area in the world. The most significant causes of past losses and conversions of urban mangrove forests are the urban development, the intensive use for timber production and, to a lesser extent, for fuelwood. But some projects for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves in protected areas are being prepared, which could help to reduce the pressure on these forests. The Ceará river, located at 03°44’ S and 038°39’W, near Fortaleza city (Brazil), has a total area of 1,158 ha of mangrove forests. The Ceará river’s Estuary is a Unit of Maintainable Use administered by SEMACE (State Organ of Environment). The objective of this research was to compare the landscape of 1968 and 2009 and to evaluate the anthropogenic impacts in the view of Brazilian legislation, focusing on a mangrove ecosystem. It was also proposed activities of environment education and ecological tracks as social transformation tools. In the studied areas, the main activities are the disordered and irregular occupation of the left bank in the direction to the mouth of the river as well as a new neighborhood developed in the mouth of the Ceará river in the last few years, causing the deforestation of the fringe forest, a mangrove area, the pollution of the river due to the precarious sanitary conditions and the degradation of mangrove areas. The major deficiency off this mangrove forest is lack of a management plan, with the participation of both governments, state and municipal. |
