Restauração florestal em áreas de pastagem na terra indígena Laranjinha/PR

Abstract

The Laranjinha Indigenous Land, located in northern Paraná, went through an intense devastation of its natural resources in the 1950s for logging and expansion of agricultural areas and pasture. However, in view of environmental, cultural, social and economic factors, the community decided, in the late 1990s, to perform a management in specific areas aiming the forest restoration. With strict control of fire and not planting any seedlings, they began to handle some pasture lands to allow natural regeneration. Thus, the present study analyzes the process of forest restoration in the Laranjinha Indigenous Land, trying to understand the different aspects involved. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to raise information, as well as incursions into the restored areas to identify their stages of ecological succession and some key species. The ArcGIS software was used for mapping and conducting a quantitative analysis of the classified areas. Currently, the Indigenous Land is at an intermediate stage of environmental adequacy. After a 15-year period, there was an increase of almost 10 times in its forest cover: from 10.6 hectares (3.6% of the total area) to 101.9 hectares (35% of the total area). The (re) created forest allows an increase in subsistence resources and contributes to the maintenance and redefinition of their cultural identity, values and traditions, strongly related to the forest.