Recife-Olinda The Last Frontier: Importance of Estuaries and Mangroves in Urban Environments

Abstract

Located on the administrative border between the cities of Olinda and Recife, the Beberibe River estuary receives constant anthropic influence and its mangrove is the target of growing real estate speculation. The aim of this manuscript is to analyse the decline of mangroves present the Beberibe estuary margins in resulting (access or restriction) in the period from 1974 to 2014. The analyses are made using Geographic Information Systems to assess pressure and urban expansion. The results indicate that there are 30% of mangroves in the study area and that urban growth caused great losses to the mangrove ecosystem that is visible in the representations in the period 1974 - 2014. In view of the emerging paradigms of urban growth, there are new possibilities for physical connection and conceptual between these two cities based on the convergence between the historically linked population. This discussion took place recently in Recife, concerning the José Estelita Wharf, and is currently being repeated for this last frontier of disorderly urban growth. Keywords: Mangroves; Urban Ecosystems; Estuarine Pollution.