Limites e potencialidades na proteção do meio ambiente com ênfase na gestão ambiental municipal: uma análise de Região de Paulo Afonso/ BA

Abstract

Introduction: The form of municipal public management adopted in much of Brazil, following the model of the developed world, foresees the implementation and operation of a Municipal Environmental System as a capable body, with its own assets and technicians, combined with an active Municipal Environmental Council, acting in alignment with national environmental agencies, capable of identifying, analyzing, discussing and recommending environmental sustainability in its territory. These management methods, properly operating, contribute to the maintenance of an environmentally balanced municipality, enabling quality of life and health for its citizens. Other public arrangements are possible, and the State of Bahia was a pioneer in the country in establishing an innovative system created by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Bahia, aiming to structure the municipalities of Bahia, training human resources and providing instruments that serve as a basis for observing the socio-environmental portrait of environmental management. Objective: to evaluate the status of municipal environmental management in the municipalities belonging to the environmental region of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Paulo Afonso, for environmental protection and its interface with health. Method: this is a qualitative, descriptive, analytical study, based on readings related to the research objectives, listed in this article, and others that contextualize the current situation, critically evaluating the themes that permeate the described theme. Analytical reports, meeting minutes, legal procedures, documentation, among others, were analyzed. A baseline was also prepared in order to assess the status of the analyzed municipalities. The proposed analysis methodology is structured in three moments, with the structuring of the analysis categories; mapping was done in the second moment and the criteria were applied in the third. It is important to highlight that to assess the criteria selected for the baseline, the survey research method was applied, and a group of environmental management experts evaluated the proposed baseline and recorded the validation of the questions posed. Results: they led to the understanding that the SISMUMA of the Paulo Afonso/BA region, for the most part, is insufficient, while the other half of the municipalities are regular and none are adequate. Discussion: Municipal environmental management plays a very important role in local environmental quality, but the municipality must structure itself so that this management is adequate. It should be noted that this is not the case in the region of Paulo Afonso/BA, according to the legal provisions that deal with environmental issues.