Use and conservation of permanent preservation and legal reserve areas by residents of the Boa Vista Settlement, Ponta Porã, MS

Abstract

Rural settlements must be structured based on socioenvironmental principles that promote human-nature integration, so that peasant farming is established in a socially, economically and environmentally just and sustainable manner. However, many residents end up adhering to the production of commodities, which often advances over Areas of Permanent Preservation (APP) and Legal Reserve (LR). This work aimed to investigate the use and conservation of APPs and RLs by the residents of the Boa Vista settlement, municipality of Ponta Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul state. It also assesses the use of pesticides by families and in which productive activities they are employed. Most of the interviewed residents (73%) stated that they do not know which productive activities can be developed in the areas of APP and LR. Despite this, 46% said they developed some type of activity in these areas, with beekeeping being mentioned by 27%, agriculture by 4%, and 15% did not want to say which productive activity they develop in the areas of APP and LR. A significant part of the owners (42%) use pesticides, mainly in the cultivation of soybeans, with glyphosate being the most used one. The results of the study show a scenario where a good part of the residents produce soybeans with the use of pesticides or lease part of the area of ​​their lots for third parties to produce. This monoculture production model puts the community's food sovereignty at risk, as it drastically reduces the space for the diversified cultivation of healthy and pesticides free food, generating strong socio-environmental impacts.