An analysis carried out by MapBiomas based on satellite images captured between 1985 and 2020 shows that the urbanized area on the banks of rivers, streams and springs has almost doubled in the country in 35 years.
These strips are APPs (Permanent Preservation Areas) and, according to the Forest Code, must be at least 30 meters long. In the case of wider rivers, the APP can reach 500 meters.
The survey pointed out that the urbanized areas within the rivers and streams APPs — that is, where there is construction and infrastructure — jumped from 61,600 hectares in 1985 to 121,000 hectares in 2020.
“This is a fact that in itself is worrying, since the proximity of urban constructions can compromise the quality and increase the flow of water, contributing to floods in the rainy season”, says Julio Cesar Pedrassoli, coordinator of the urban infrastructure team at the MapBiomas.
Edimilson Rodrigues, one of the authors of the study, adds that preserving these areas is essential in a context of climate change and extreme events.
“With the worsening of the climate crisis, which is affecting the regularity and volume of rainfall, the preservation of areas without construction around water bodies becomes critical for people’s safety and for environmental quality”, he says.
It is estimated that the total area of ​​APPs of water bodies (rivers and streams) in the country —considering the minimum range of 30 meters— is 422 thousand hectares. Thus, the 121 thousand hectares of occupied areas represent 29% of the total.
According to the technical note from MapBiomas, the responsibility for keeping the remaining 71% preserved belongs to the municipalities, which since December have had the power to regulate the restriction bands on the banks of rivers, streams and lakes in their urban limits.
“This means that a more rigorous action by these municipalities can preserve or even recover these APPs, increasing the resilience of the urban environment to floods and improving the condition of
people’s lives”, says Pedrassol.
The analysis also showed that almost a fifth (19.8%) of the areas built within APPs are concentrated in 20 municipalities. Of these, 11 are capital cities, including the five leaders in the ranking: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Manaus and Curitiba.
