Perception of environmental impacts of aggregate mining: A case study from the municipality of Ourém, Pará, Brazil

Yuri Cavaleiro de Macêdo Coelho, Priscila Sanjuan de Medeiros, Janaira Almeida Santos and Flávia Cristina Araújo Lucas

Resources Policy, 2022, vol. 78, issue C

Abstract: Research involving environmental perception is effective to understand the interrelationships between man and the environment. This study evaluated the influence of seven sociodemographic factors of 154 residents of Ourém, Eastern Amazon, Brazil, on their perception of impacts caused by aggregate mining. Structured questionnaires, informal conversations and non-participant observation were used to collect information. The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data was performed through non-parametric statistics, adopting significance at p < 0.05, and by the content analysis technique, respectively. It was observed that the population is dissatisfied with the impacts caused by mining companies in the municipality. The residents considered the impacts to the landscape as the most serious, followed by impacts to the air, water and health, while the economic and social advantages were perceived at the lower intensity level. Older people, individuals from rural areas, and people with no schooling were the ones who most perceived social benefits. The perception of impacts to the air, health and landscape was greater among older residents. Residents living far from mines pointed to a higher level of environmental satisfaction and noticed noise pollution and water disturbances with greater intensity. It is believed, therefore, that it is necessary that the government and the companies take the heterogeneity of attributes that constitute the topofilia of the subjects and the dynamics of the ecosystems into account to establish and to implement policies of conservation and progress based on sustainable development.

Keywords: Mining. mineral resources. aggregates for civil construction. sustainable development. social and environmental impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:78:y:2022:i:c:s0301420722002732

DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.102825

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