Influência dos eventos hidrológicos extremos nas estratégias adaptativas das comunidades ribeirinhas da RDS do rio Madeira

Abstract

The Amazonian riverside populations follow the rhythm of the hydrological cycle of the rivers: flood, flood, ebb and dry. They have adequate adaptability to these changes and are able, to some extent, to know whether the ebb and flow period will be extraordinary and whether there is a need to change or adopt protective measures in the face of these changes. However, in the past 30 years, episodes of floods and ebbs have become increasingly intense and frequent in the Amazon. The Madeira River basin has been experiencing an increase in the frequency of these events, in a very short period of time, highlighting the most recent of severe ebbs, in 2005 and 2010 and extreme floods, in 2008 and 2014. In this thesis, these events are called extreme hydrological events. They are felt by the riverside populations, especially regarding the amount of sediment that is deposited in the areas occupied by the communities and that is revealed in the post-flood, making the residents unable to carry out social, agricultural, fishing, extractive activities, activities, navigation and access to health and education services. The main objective of the present study was to verify the relationship of the inhabitants' perception about extreme hydrological events and the possible changes in the adaptive strategies of four riverside communities of the Rio Madeira Sustainable Development Reserve. To achieve the expected result, we sought to investigate the environmental perception of residents in relation to flood risks and their consequences, describe the impacts caused by the extreme sedimentation that occurs in the floodplain of the Madeira River Reserve and finally present the interaction network on the causes and effects on the socio-ecological systems of the studied area. Data were collected by applying a form in 2018 with twenty-four residents, in addition to the forms, key informants were interviewed, two managers and four community presidents, who are people who have deep knowledge of local particularities. Four workshops were also held, totaling the presence of fifty-four participants. According to the results obtained, it was found that the individuals surveyed perceive the influence of extreme hydrological events of flood and ebb in the last three decades, recognizing that such events directly affect not only economic activities, such as agriculture and fishing mainly, but also, the routine tasks of day-to-day and the special ones that make up the social life of families. It was also found that the majority of those surveyed adopted measures to prevent and minimize risks and losses, such as, for example, the construction of houses at higher points and new forms of planting in the floodplain. These measures were taken after the 2014 flood, the year of the greatest flood ever recorded, which caused destruction of improvements and plantations and economic losses to residents. However, it is concluded that despite the problems suffered with events of abnormal floods and ebbs, the residents do not abandon their lands and create strategies to overcome the adversities imposed by the hydrological regime during these episodes of extreme events.