Proposal for Analysis of Geoenvironmental Sustainability Indicators for the Municipality of Barcarena in the State of Pará

Abstract

This research proposes an analysis of the municipality of Barcarena, in the State of Pará, from the use of geoenvironmental and sustainability indicators, with the intention of verifying possible changes in the local landscape due to plant extractivism in the past and current mineral extraction. Specifically, it is intended to understand how geoenvironmental and social sustainability indicators can be used to monitor local changes; evaluate the quality of life in the municipality of the Barcarena, from the use of physical and socio-environmental indicators; propose a system of indicators capable of gathering physical and socio-environmental indicators of sustainability from the discussion on the quality of urban and environmental life observed in the research. For this, research was carried out that presents a qualitative and quantitative character and can be identified as a study that involves a mixed method because it used diversified techniques in an attempt to achieve its objectives, including bibliographic, documentary survey, as well as field research. The results obtained prove that the geoenvironmental indices of the Municipality of Barcarena place it in an intermediate position, a fact that can be proven through the Sustainability Barometer published by the Amazon Foundation for Research in Pará – FAPESPA. This occurrence is because the interests of large mining companies predominate in the region to the detriment of the costs and expenses that could incur initiatives aimed at maintaining and preserving the environment, as well as the absence of effective public policies that ensure the maintenance of socio-environmental well-being in the region.