Landscape Changes and Their Influence on The Dynamics of Erosion Risk in The City of Xai-Xai, Mozambique

Abstract

This article is the result of the dissertation, which aimed to analyze the landscape changes and the associated environmental risks that occur in the city of Xai-Xai, southern Mozambique. Thus, bibliographic research was used to develop the state of the art, followed by the observation of landscape characteristics and the cartographic method. The techniques of data collection were: the unstructured interview, the remote sensing for multi-temporal analysis of the Landsat 5 and 8 images, classified in ArcGis 10.3 and Qgis 2.18, to produce thematic cartography. For risk analysis, Rossi’s methodology was converged, with the “Weighted Hierarchical Analysis”. It was concluded that the inhabited area advances over the others in the city of Xai-Xai, fixed at 58% or 80.9 km2 of the city’s surface. Man is the agent in changing the landscape, through the disorderly occupation of spaces and the removal of vegetation. Healthy public policies are suggested, in view of their strengths and weaknesses, through the spatialization of specialization.