In this study, the Brazilian legislation regarding the permanent protected areas (APP) and the water resources was investigated by simultaneously analyzing the available legal instruments and the current vegetation cover in the Araguaia River basin. Through the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), applied to a CBERS II mosaic, comprising 21 satellite imagery (July-August, 2006), we detected a land conversion of about 61% in the study area as a whole, and of about 45% along the riparian zone. These figures corroborate the need of a stronger compliance, by the landowners, to the Forest Code, and fast pace decisions by local and federal authorities, so that new deforestations, in the Araguaia basin and other important areas in the Cerrado biome, can be either prevented or reduced.
Remote sensing; Cerrado biome; Permanent Protected Areas; Vegetation index; Araguaia River
