The present study aimed to analyze the importance of the Permanent Preservation Areas (PPA) for the forest remnants maintenance in the city of Sorocaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. A forest remnants map was made using aerial photographs from 2006, and hydrographic and slope maps were used to PPA determination. Two scenarios were compared with landscape metrics: real (with current forest) and ideal (current forest adding the PPA restoration). The results showed that 19% of the city territory were classified as PPA, and from this area, only 45% have forest cover. The preserved PPA represents 50% of all forest cover in the landscape. Restoring the PPA would increase from 16.68% to 28% of forest cover landscape and enable the emergence of fragments larger than 3,000 ha. In the real scenario, the bigger fragments have 300 ha. The presence of forest remnants is closely related to PPA areas: riverbanks, floodplains and hillside, where urban occupation was hampered and there is legal protection. The situation shows that the PPA play a fundamental role in forest patches conservation in a largely urbanized city, where natural areas support pressure. The evaluation of the scenarios showed that the incorporation of the legal provisions in planning and territorial ordering subsides the strategies for the maintenance of natural habitats and, consequently the reduction of the negative effects on biodiversity. However, the recent changes in Forest Code may represent a retrocession in the environmental scenario against to the increasing urbanization.
Fragmented landscapes; Environmental policy; Geographic Information System (GIS)
