As plantas e a qualidade dos agroecossistemas de Santa Rita, Benjamin Constant, Amazonas

Abstract

The present study was carried out in the community called Santa Rita Community, located on the right bank of the Solimões River and 5.3 km from Benjamin Constant, Amazonas. The objective was to describe the environmental quality based on the perception of the residents; to verify the local knowledge of the inhabitants in relation to the environmental quality indicator plants and to identify the indicator plants of environmental quality in the familiar agroecosystems; and develop a guide of environmental quality indicator plants present in the family agroecosystems of the Community of Santa Rita for the teaching of Environmental Sciences in Basic Education. To this end, interviews were conducted with 20 families from the community on quality, environmental quality, quality of life and indicator plants. To validate the data and conceptualize the landscape units, a focus group meeting was held for adults, during which there was also the development of mental maps about the community. Subsequently, it was held with the residents guided tours by the familiar agro-ecosystems and conserved forest area, applying concomitantly the techniques of photographic records, botanical collections and identification of the species. The conceptualization of quality, environmental quality and quality of life are categorized in adjectives related to their life and their daily activities and evidenced that their practices contribute to maintain the interdependence with the environment so that both benefit from this relationship, since man takes care of the environment that provides it with energy necessary for its survival. Indicator plants of environmental quality were classified into six groups of ethnocategories - good soil, weak soil, good water, poor water, presence of fish and virgin forest, which are found in eleven landscape units (terra firme, várzea, praia, isla , capoeira, restinga, river, igarapé, lake, swamp and virgin forest). Thus, they demonstrated that they understand that plants as indicators of environmental quality contributes to keeping the environment conserved and for food and other animals, in addition to providing various resources. Therefore, this local knowledge of caring for the environment needs to be divulged, from which an educational product (a paradidático guide) has been elaborated that contains data obtained in the field that aims at the dissemination of local knowledge and the contextualization of the teaching of Environmental Sciences with the reality of the region of Alto Solimões.