LAND USE & LAND COVER DYNAMICS IN SAO JOAO DO CARU DISTRICT (MARANHAO, BRAZIL)

Since years 1960, the Brazilian Amazon live a severe process of exploration. In Maranhao, exploration of the Amazon begins with the construction of the BR 316 (1958), BR 010 (1959), BR 222 (1968) and Carajas Railway (1982) that boosted the attraction of farmers, loggers, industries and the formation of new counties . The municipality of Sao Joao do Card, Maranhio, is the result of this process, with an area of 6,155 km(2), 27.13% are Awa indigenous land and 17.38% in REBIO Gurupi; deforestation and introduction of livestock were the major changes in the last three decades. To detect the changes we used Landsat 5 TM images from 1984 and 2008, radiometric uniformity in the time series, NDVI, NDVI composition-Band2-Band5, segmentation, enhancement and classification . The results showed that the woody vegetation in 1984 (60%) presented a reduction of 22.3%; herbaceous vegetation (23%), increased 27.5%; class area of cultivation (12%) had a reduction of 1.47%. The results indicate the advance of deforestation in indigenous territories and Gurupi Biological Reserve in the municipality, the advancement of agricultural practices and illegal logging is causing conflicts with indigenous and loss REBIO Gurupi.