In the Corumbataí river basin, State of São Paulo, forest remnants occupy less than 3% of the original total area, and the absence of this natural vegetation has been increasing erosion and disturbing hydrological regime of its streams, causing many problems on water supply in urban areas like Piracicaba and Rio Claro. This situation shows the need of a well planned reforestation in areas of this watershed. However, since the funds are limited, it is necessary a site selection study to use available fund on reforestation projects considering the maximum environmental gain. This study aims to develop a site selection method for reforestation based on sustainable indicators of catchments. Five indicators were considered: native forest proportion in the Permanent Preservation Areas (APP); native forest discontinuity in the basin; mean variation of land-use; Shannon landscape diversity index; and mean erosion susceptibility. Catchment areas were selected using linear weighting of indicators and ranking of catchments. An initial simulation was made to select the best 1.000 ha for reforestation and the results showed that the indicators were able to capture distinct aspects of catchment sustainability. The method was considered useful for selecting catchments at extreme conditions, differentiating those that need conservation actions from those that need restoration actions.
Landscape ecology; reforestation; watershed
