Análise da dinâmica no uso da terra maranhense na Amazônia Legal

For many years, crop and livestock production were the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon Region, mainly after the developmentalist policies for the Amazon region in the 60s. In this context, the objective was to analyze, from 2002 to 2017, the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover in Maranhao municipalities located in the Legal Amazon. The study took place in 170 municipalities that are part of the territory of the Legal Amazon. For the application of the correlation coefficient, data referring to deforested areas, total area used in agriculture and number of cattle were used. The data of territorial area and population estimation of the municipalities of larger deforested area were also used. Deforestation in the Legal Amazon in Maranhao was significantly reduced by 131,428 hectares from 2002 to 2017. In contrast, the number of cattle and the area used for agriculture increased from 4.33 to 7.098. million and 1.052 to 1.573 million hectares, respectively. Deforestation of the Legal Amazon in Maranhao, in 16 years, was largely (70%) concentrated in 25 municipalities, mainly those located near important federal highways or with easy access to other states, such as Para. Although, deforestation indicators in Legal Amazon located in Maranhao, indicate that there is a reduction in 16 years, it is necessary to pay attention to sustainable development in agriculture, that is, balance between the economic, ecological and social, because there is much that can still be preserved. Appropriate environmental oversight in state boundary areas, which show a strong tendency to environmental impacts associated with deforestation, is also important.