Author(s)

Marcos Cicarini Hott^1,2, Luiz Otávio Moras Filho¹, Marco Aurélio Leite Fontes^1*, Aline Aparecida Silva Pereira¹, Cláudia de Oliveira Gonçalves Nogueira¹, Luis Marcelo Tavares de Carvalho¹, Luís Antônio Coimbra Borges¹, João Cesar de Resende², Mauro Antonio Homem Antunes³

¹Department of Forest Sciences, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, Brazil.
²Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation—Embrapa, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
³Department of Engineering, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Brazil.

The Conservation Units (CU) were created to protect natural environments from growing degradation and to impede the expansion of urbanization and agricultural crops. The Serra da Canastra National Park, established to protect the headwaters of the S?o Francisco River and other places of scenic and ecological interest, is extensively visited due to its many tourist attractions, such as waterfalls, fauna and flora. An analysis of the park’s geography is needed to assess the risk involved in and its suitability for public use due to its territorial extension and environmental complexities. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the background of issues of interest to CU management. Additionally, we used high-resolution RapidEye imagery, altimetry and database of park infrastructure to build geospatial database and estimate classes of suitability for and risk in public use through GIS tools. The resulting cartographic data can support the planning of policies concerning the landscape and park’s territorial management.

Conservation Units, Environment, GIS, RapidEye Imagery

Hott, M. , Filho, L. , Fontes, M. , Pereira, A. , Nogueira, C. , Carvalho, L. , Borges, L. , Resende, J. and Antunes, M. (2016) Public Use and Landscape Analysis in the Serra da Canastra National Park, Brazil: A Geospatial Approach. Natural Resources, 7, 93-101. doi: 10.4236/nr.2016.72009.