Percepção da população urbana sobre a flora e arborização na cidade de Fortaleza-CE.

Abstract

With the strong expansion of urban areas, the development of cities has become a major environmental problem. Some of the impacts associated with the rapid development of metropolises is the suppression of vegetation cover and the replacement of native species by exotic ones in urban areas. Together, these factors tend to distance the inhabitants of the metropolis from the natural biodiversity of each location. Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze the vision of people in the urban area of the city of Fortaleza, Ceará state, on the benefits and disadvantages of urban trees planting, including their quality and degree of importance, as well as the knowledge and preference that the participants have on tree species. For this study, 100 questionnaires were applied to pedestrians from the Plaza Carlos Alberto Studart Gomes (known as "Praça das Flores"), located in the city of Fortaleza. The questionnaire had open and multiple-choice questions, in which the popular names of the species cited by the participants were recorded, as well as the opinion of the people about the urban forestation in general and its quality in the city of Fortaleza, as well as in the participants’s neighborhoods. The results showed that most of the participants named more exotic species than native species of Ceará, and that they recognize the importance of the presence of trees in the city, mentioning as main advantages the presence of shade, improvement of air quality, reduction of temperature and beauty. However, 55% of the participants associated the presence of trees with negative effects to the urban environment, such as dirt, need for constant maintenance and conflicts with urban structures. The data also showed that half of the people interviewed (50%) considered the city of Fortaleza to be fairly forested, and that 81% of the participants did not have knowledge about the definition of exotic and native species. Based on the results, it was concluded that the participants were more familiar with exotic species of Brazil than with the native species of Ceará, not valuing them for the public tree planting in the city. In addition, while recognizing the importance of trees to the urban environment, it is still associated with several disadvantages caused by poor planning. Thus, it was noted that it is relevant to make use of Environmental Education to raise the awareness of the inhabitants of Fortaleza about the need for good planning of urban trees planting, including technical data on correct planting of trees, and to promote the appreciation of native species in the region.