Avaliação integrada dos recursos naturais como base para o planeamento do seu uso e desenvolvimento sustentável: Caso de estudo - Bacia do Umbelúzi

Abstract

Mozambique's economy is mainly based on the exploitation of available natural resources. Its population depends directly on natural resources, as they are the guarantor of self-support or alternative survival. The uses adopted and the techniques frequently applied either never follow an occupation plan and or do not conform to the norms of sustainable production, a fact that contributes to obtaining low yields and to the degradation or depletion of basic resources. This study advocates the assessment of natural resources as an exercise to determine their suitability and as an essential activity for planning their use, in order to ensure one of the requirements for sustainable development. The evaluation focused primarily on the “land” resource, as it constitutes (i) the base capable of sustaining almost all biological ecosystems and (ii) the space for the development of different human activities. In this context, it was carried out with the aim of providing bases with which decisions can be taken on the implementation of the best uses of resources, indicating the areas of land suitability and their limitations, always considering the ecological, social and economic perspective. thus the fact that the study area is part of a hydrographic basin, which constitutes an integrated system of ecosystems.( Tradução nossa ).