The Guandu River is the main water provision source in Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, assisting a population of about nine million people. This study is an environmental stratification and characterization of the Permanent Preservation Area (PPA) in Guandu River, through non-conventional digital aerial photos obtained from a small digital camera attached to a helicopter. These aerial photos have been grouped in mosaics to make the geoprocessing stages easier. The PPA region has been stratified in four different environments: Environment-1 (river-bed), Environment-2 (fluvial holm), Environment-3 (aluvionar plain), Environment-4 (marine influenced). A map of the degree of degradation of each environment has been obtained from the superposition of land use maps, urban-industrial and natural vegetation maps. Generally, the land is used for agriculture and pasture. The forest fragments represent only 7,4% of the PPA. Environment-4 shows 51% of high to very high degradation degree, and Environment-3 shows a better conservation state compared to the others. These results suggest that predominance of agricultural activities, proximity of great urban centers and very reduced forest area in the PPA of Guandu River menace the quality of this important source.
Riparian forest; Land use and Conservation
