Da natureza-lugar à natureza-sujeito: uma paisagem em fluxo na Lagoa de Itaipu, em Niterói (RJ)

Abstract

The Itaipu Lagoon is located in the oceanic region of the municipality of Niterói (RJ), in an area of great natural beauty and is surrounded by a complex mosaic of Conservation Units and protected areas. This characteristic arouses the attention of the real estate sectors, which seek to transform the lagoon environment into a space for real estate expansion. At the heart of the conflicts is the definition of a protection area to the lagoon environment. But this is not a recent problem, it has its origins in the middle of the 20th century, with the intensification of the urbanization process. The urbanization projects approved to the region produced big changes in the landscape. In 1979, a permanent connection channel was created between Itaipu Lagoon and the sea, imposing changes on morpho dynamics, hydrodynamics and sedimentary dynamics to the lagoon system. In this new scenario, a new element appeared in the lagoon environment: the mangrove swamp. In addition to the landscape aspect, the Itaipu mangrove swamp has an important role in conflicts, since it occupies 119.70 ha (2019) of the lagoon environment and is protected by law. In other words, it is a resistance instrument against the advance of urbanization and capital interests. In 2019, a Municipal Master Plan revision was presented, eleborated in the light of the City Statute. The expectation was for a definition about the lagoon environment and it happened. Part of the lagoon environment was included in the Urban Environment’s Structuring and Qualifying Micro Zone, being, therefore, guided to better urban utilization. Thus, the creation of an area to be occupied within a sector of historical conflict and struggle for environmental preservation amplifies, deepens and instrumentalizes the existing conflicts. In face of this problematics, the current study sought to analyze the Itaipu Lagoon as a landscape in motion, that is, from the recognition of connections and paths demonstrated in the Itaipu Lagoon and in its surroundings, having the movement as an analysis’ dimension. In this sense, the Itaipu mangrove swamp was an important issue that showed this movement. In a short period of time and with its behavior marked by asymmetries and interferences, the mangrove swamp exposes both the complexity of the processes manifested in the landscape and the controversies between the environmental preservation and the urban planning policies. The analyzes showed that the proposal of limiting a preservation area fitted to the mangrove swamp understands the landscape from the perspective of a closure and not of an opening, so it is not able to guarantee the conditions for its full development. Contradictorily, this scenario ensures that places not yet colonized by mangrove swamp species get other soil use propositions, and also denies that other phyto physiognomies can exert the function of protecting the mangrove swamp from edge effects. Therefore, protection mechanisms are subjugated to the development model based on the occupation of natural spaces and the capital’s speculation. More than a different understanding, the results of a landscape in motion offer a better contact with reality and can be operationalized via Remote Sensing, also revealing a potential as a tool for spatial monitoring of changes and a resistance instrument