Participatory cartography as a means to facilitate democratic governance of offshore wind power in Brazil

Priority Areas for Conservation on the West Coast of Ceará: A Case Study in the Lower Course of the Aracatiaçu River / Áreas Prioritárias Para Conservação No Litoral Oeste Do Ceará: Um Estudo De Caso No Baixo Curso Do Rio Aracatiaçu

“…O estudo enfatiza os possíveis impactos na pesca caso seja implantado o projeto de parque eólico offshore CEMAB 1 (Proc. Ibama 02001.001606/2022-00 -23/01/2022, potência total de 1.080 MW), especialmente para os pescadores da comunidade de Moitas, devido às rotas de saída e retorno das embarcações para as áreas de pescaria (Xavier, 2022;Xavier;Brannstrom, 2022).…”

Seascape Ethnomapping on the Inner Continental Shelf of the Brazilian Semiarid Coast

“…These activities are carried out individually or in groups [24]. Artisanal fisheries occur predominantly on the inner shelf, using sailing boats, and constitute an essential local subsistence activity [20,22]. The Ceará's continental shelf comprises three bathymetric zones: inner shelf < 20 m, middle shelf 20-40 m, outer shelf > 40 m to the shelf break, ~60-70 m, presenting mixed sedimentation features [35].…”

“…The rivers that flow into the ocean are intermittent, with a reduced influx of sediments to the continental shelf due to the influence of the semiarid climate [39,40]. The main wind regimes are fundamental for artisanal fishing, which occurs predominantly with sailboats on the inner shelf, and constitutes an essential local subsistence activity [20,22]. The strong and constant wind (9 m.s −1 ± 2.5) generates an international tourism activity based on kite surfing in estuaries and the sea [41] and sets suitable conditions for the installation of onshore and offshore wind farms [40][41][42][43].…”

“…On the Brazilian coasts, fishing communities have always applied a knowledge-based approach to use natural resources efficiently. Information on distance from the coast, seasonality of winds, tides, bathymetry, and landforms has been used to design vessels and fishing artifacts, plan navigation strategies, and choose fishing locations [18][19][20][21][22]. This knowledge is transmitted orally among the members of traditional populations generation after generation [23,24].…”

“…It can serve as a basis for producing new alternative development models accounting for the ecological services provided by these landscapes [5]. Several ethnological studies have been carried out on the semiarid coast of northeast Brazil on mangroves, navigation, artisanal fisheries, the impacts of offshore and onshore energy production, and SCUBA diving tourism [9,22,[30][31][32][33] but there are no records of ethnogeomorphological mapping of the seascape on the northern Brazilian coast. Furthermore, it would allow the inclusion of local communities in decision-making processes in their territory.…”