In this study, we evaluated the use of land and identified the Permanent Preservation Areas (PPA) in the watershed of Rio da Prata (RPW) in the municipality of Castelo, Espirito Santo state, using geoprocessing techniques. RPW is marked by the removal of native vegetation for the expansion of the agricultural frontier. The classes of land use were vectored by photointerpretation of orthorectified aerial photographs. The delimitation of the PPAs was carried out based on hydrography and altimetry data from digital topographic maps according to the determinations of the Brazilian Forest Code. The main forms of land use are agriculture (30.21%) and livestock (30.63%), totaling 60.84% of the area, and the preserved area of native forest occupies 36.85% of the total area. The PPAs represent 55.48% of the total area, with most of it (50.40%) being used for socioeconomic purposes, while the forestry cover represents only 49.60%.
watershed management; land use and occupancy; Environmental Protection Areas (EPA); Rio da Prata watershed