Capacidade adaptativa: uma proposição metodológica de avaliação da vulnerabilidade social às inundações.

Abstract

Global environmental change brings uncertainties to natural disasters frequency and intensity incensement. Floods are most common disasters in Brazil and Amazon. The 2009 year has plenty of losses associated to an extreme flood event in Amazon and specifically in Santarem municipality. Efforts to reduce losses can be done through risk analysis and evaluation following Brazilian risk management. Risk is a product of hazard and vulnerability. Hazard assessment has been extensively done. Emphasis has recently been change to vulnerability assessment. Vulnerability is a function of three dimensions, among then adaptive capacity. This last one reduces vulnerability. So, it is propose that adaptive capacity can be divide in a tangible and an intangible dimension. Therefore an existing vulnerability model is modified. Tangible components are unit of response, which corresponds to existent infrastructure that can be used in case of a disaster. Intangible components correspond to group behavior characteristics and are relate to risk perception and collective action. Coping and adaptation measures are resultant of adaptive capacity. Participatory social science and natural methods are needed to analyze and mapping vulnerability. Primary and secondary data are inserted in a geographical information system. As results it is possible do visualize susceptible flood areas; analyze local adaptive capacity; map vulnerability through social vulnerability index; and recognize coping and adaptation measures. Results point to adaptive capacity importance in vulnerability assessment as a way to enhance community capacity in local risk management.