TROPICAL SOLAR SALT WORKS-INFLUENCE AND CHALLENGES IN THE COEXISTENCE WITH TRADITIONAL POPULATIONS IN THE BRAZILIAN NORTHEAST REGION

摘要

The northern coast of the Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil) state has presented as one of its main characteristics the occupation of the estuary borders by great saltworks companies and cities directly related to that activity. In chronological sequence, the majority of the cities had their expansion and construction near to the old artisan saltworks which were constructed along to the estuaries of the main rivers from the period of the Portuguese colonization (near of year 1500). Nowadays, due to the accentuated growth of the coastal cities, the spaces destined to the salt production has also been acting like limits of the urban zones, causing the use of the saltwork ecosystem by the human populations not only for the production of marine salt (NaCl), but also for the capture of fishing, crustaceans, seafood, and other characteristically associated fauna animals to the Brazilian solar saltworks. This survey was developed in the saltworks located in the northern coast of the state of the Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), in the coordinates 4° 55 ' 5°6' S, and 37°10' to 36°15' W, having as the analysis the relations between the solar saltworks and the human populations located in urban areas of their surroundings. Initially, it was carried out a bibliographical revision as adopted method of survey about the ecology of saltworks and the occurrence of those ecosystems in Brazil. Moreover, it was held an identification of the occurrence areas of saltworks to the length of the analyzed coastal area, by means of the satellite image analysis (CBERS 2), being used digital photography and GPS (Global Positioning System) as complement resource. Another resource used was accomplishment of interviews and survey application between the users of this environment. According to the results of survey, it has shown the opening areas next to the vegetation of mangrove swamps, resulting of accidents of the marine salt transportation of the saltworks located in the estuary. A challenge for the managers of the saltwork companies is the invasion of clandestine collectors of Artemia sp., promoting the fall of the populations of that so important crustacean for the production of salt. The artisan fishing in the evaporators of the saltworks is an activity that is being developed from the period of its construction. The saltworks located in the Brazilian coast still face the threat of the contamination for the great amount of urban waste water discharges that flow to the estuaries. Still, the implementation of effective measures of environmental management in the part of ecosystems located next to the saltworks (cities, shrimp farms, and others) are important for the coexistence of several elements in the landscaping picture of the Brazilian coast.