Vulnerabilidades socioambientais no vale do Jari (AP): transformações, pressões e ameaças em comunidades amazônicas

Abstract

The communities of the Jari Valley, located in the state of Amapá, include riverine communities, extractivists, and quilombolas, and are subject to various conflicts related to land management and the expansion of various impactful activities. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify situations of vulnerability faced by traditional communities in the Jari Valley: Santo Antônio da Cachoeira, Quilombo São José, and São Francisco do Iratapuru. To this end, the methodology employed consists of temporal land cover analyses using data from the Mapbiomas platform and QGIS software, as well as structured interviews with community residents and SWOT analysis focusing on threats and weaknesses from the perspective of vulnerability. The main results identified five main groups of vulnerabilities: impacts of the Santo Antônio do Jari hydroelectric plant, such as an increase in the river area and a drastic loss of adjacent vegetation; effects of climate change, such as more intense droughts, compromised nut crops, and greater susceptibility of vegetation to fire; presence of outsiders, such as illegal fishermen who threaten the safety of communities and the availability of fish for consumption; activities of gold miners, increasing river pollution and the potential risk of heavy metal contamination; and lack of basic sanitation, with increased river pollution and public health problems. The use of the two methodologies was relevant in complementing each other in the identification and detailing of threats, partially overcoming their technical limitations. It can therefore be concluded that the socio-environmental vulnerabilities in the Jari Valley comprise a complex system of problems with strong synergistic elements, requiring integrated mitigation measures focused on strategic partnerships, given the limitations identified.