Main Socioenvironmental Impacts of Mining in the Caatinga Landscape in Northern Bahia/Brazil

Abstract

 Mining is one of the basic sectors of Brazilian economy and it has contributed to the development of cities and small villages, since it is operated with social and environmental responsibility, based on the precepts of sustainable development. Much has been questioned about the social and environmental responsibility of mineral activity, raising questions about the impacts caused by the implementation of these projects. The present article aims to present the social and environmental reality of Quixaba village, in the county of Sento Sé, in the north of Bahia, with the voluntary exploration of an amethyst deposit, as well as to point out the main environmental impacts based on Environmental Law. It should be noted that this deposit has not been identified until then within the Brazilian mineralogical heritage, having been recently (re) discovered by people from the region. However, it is in the heart of semi-arid region, in a protected area called Boqueirão da Onça National Park, dominated by massifs and mountain ranges (more than 1,200 meters) in the center and north, and by plains to the south. This research is essentially based on the Geosystemic Theory, the Ecodynamic Method and the GTP Theory. Therefore, it is fundamental to develop conservation measures and sustainable management of protected environments, since landscapes are products and records of the geological evolution of the planet. Therefore, it is essential that local and environmental authorities understand the urgency of proper and responsible management of the areas explored by mining, mainly because the region has enormous geological, paleontological, archaeological, faunal, floristic and paleoenvironmental heritage.