Incêndios florestais em unidades de conservação de proteção integral da região metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, MG

Abstract

This study analyzed the occurrence of forest fires in the full-protection areas (UCs), which are located in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte / MG (RMBH). Such analysis comprised the period of time from 2009 to 2013The surrounding areas of some UCs in the MRBH are taken by urban agglomerations, which put a lot of pressure on the UCs. Forest fires can cause significant disturbance to biodiversity and interference in environmental processes. the following protected areas were studied: State Park Serra do Rola Moça (PESRM), State Ecological Station Fechos (EEEF), State Ecological Station Cercadinho (EEEC), State Park Serra Verde (PESV) and State Park Sumidouro (PES). A database was built with the managerial information available in forest fire reports (ROI). It was built a map With the location of forest fires for each UC. We also examined the effects of meteorological variables on the fires. UC managers and employees of the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development (SEMAD) were interviewed. In the period 2009-2013, there were 437 fires in the studied UCs 225 (51.5%) in PESRM, 3 (0.7%) in the EEEC, 14 (3.2%) in the EEEC, 172 (39.4%) in PESV and 23 (5.2%) in the PES. Among the 437 ROIs, 73.49% were considered excellent or good for presenting management information The critical period of fires starts in may and ends in late September, since 85.8% of cases occurred during these months. The peak of fires is in august (27.5%). It was observed the relative humidity is the most important meteorological factor that influences the occurrence of forest fires the months, which presented an average relative humidity below 59% (July, August and September), also presented the highest number of these events in this quarter, the number of forest fires added up to 65.9% considering the period of 2009 to 2013. The weekdays With highest frequency of fires are Mondays and Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and the peak happens from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. The fires occur mostly in areas with high population density and are caused by human actions. Regions with lower population density and places that are hard to reach have fewer records preventing and fighting fires does not provide the expected results, since there are deficiencies in logistics, personnel, planning and there is not an environmental education program structured by the state. The results of this research could be used to support the planning of preventing fires and also to improve the organizational structure of the Task Force Prevention.