Impact Of a Low-Income Informal Settlement in a Headwater Area at High-Risk Of Erosion in Brazil

Abstract

The largest remaining area of preserved Atlantic Forest in the Belo Horizonte City (Minas Gerais, Brazil) protects many headwaters and watercourses. Among them, the Macacos stream is considered the most preserved with high water quality. However, since 2013 this region has suffered an intense and disorderly of informal settlement process by low-income communities, which resulted in a progressive loss of the original vegetation. Due to the lack of vegetation, this area became prone to erosional process as demonstrated by the topographic analysis. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) demonstrated the great impact of the settlement process over the vegetation, ranging from 1 to 0. Besides, this eroded area has faced the loss of biodiversity as estimated by the richness and Shenon's index as well as the invasion by exotic species as Brachiaria sp and Typha domingensis. Also, the erosional process in this hilly site resulted in the accumulation of high level of sediments in the Macacos stream. Therefore, the restoration of headwaters and riparian sites aiming at soil stabilization and vegetation restoration is highly recommended.