Use of Social Cartography for Analysis of Social-Environmental Perception: a Case Study in the Paraíba do Sul Watershed – São Paulo Stretch

Abstract

The Social Cartography involves the inclusion of communities in the map development process and enables the establishment of an important participatory methodology for qualitative-quantitative analyses of socio-environmental perception, contributing to the construction of collective knowledge and territorial management. The objective of the article is to present the use of Social Cartography as a tool for analyzing socio-environmental perception in the Paraíba do Sul River basin, Paulista section. The analysis was carried out by Social Cartography, based on the survey of socio-environmental potentialities and problems, and their comparison with data from secondary sources. Native vegetation, conservation units, and tourist attributes stood out as potentialities; and concerning socio-environmental problems, eucalyptus monoculture, precarious sanitation, urban occupation, and sand extraction were highlighted. The results reinforce the
potential of Social Cartography in bringing visibility to local knowledge and contributing to the construction of collective knowledge and the participatory territorial diagnosis.