Anthropic Environmental Impacts in the Apa (Evnvironmental Protection Area) of the Ilha Comprida (São Paulo State): from the prehistory to the Present Time.

Abstract

The Ilha Comprida occours in São Paulo State (Brazil) southern littoral, withir Cananéia – Iguape coastal plain. It is essentially composed of fine to very fine sands of Quaternary ages, deposited above the present seallevel, during the Cananéia ( about 120 thousand years BP ) and Santos ( about 5.5 thousand years BP ) transgressions. Due to its constitution, the island is very susceptible sensitive and, then inadequate, to human occupation. In spite of its recognized geoenvironmental susceptibility, the Ilha Comprida has been a target for human occupation since the prehistoric times by the shell- madden inhabitants. Already in historical times, since the mid- XVI th century, have been done two attempts for urban nucleus constitution in the Ilha Comprida. The “ Valo Grande “ ( mar –made navigation channel) construction in 1827 at the island northern extremity near Iguape, accelerated the erosion and sedimentation processes in the area, including the Ilha Comprida. The São Paulo State Government was enough sensitive to the above mentioned fact and transformed the Ilha Comprida in an APA (Environmental Protection Area) in 1987, which was regularized in November 30, 1989. Moreover , there were also created within this APA, a ZVS ( Wild life Zone ) and an ARIE ( Relevant Ecological Interest Area ). Nevertheless, the human occupation process culminated with the implantation , through a plebiscite, of the Ilha Comprida Municipality from the Iguape city , in October 27,1991. It is arrived the moment to evaluate the already caused environmental anthropic impacts and try to forecast that can happen in the near future, mostly for implementation of additional works ( infrastructures ) in the Ilha Comprida and surrounding areas and/or of some mitigation measures.