Chapter 15: Territorial Dynamics and Environmental Risks in the Costa Branca Coast, Northeastern Brazil

The coast of Costa Branca covers an area that received this name due to identity factors that make this territory unique, with special emphasis on the production of sea salt, which, associated with the specific landscape appeal of the coastal zone, particularizes a space that is propitious for tourist exploration, constituting one of the tourist development poles of Rio Grande do Norte. This pole was formalized by the Ministry of Tourism in the first decade of the twenty-first century, the Costa Branca Pole.

Over the past four decades, that space has gained greater notoriety due to different land uses, expressed mainly by economic activities that have revealed a new territorial dynamics. As it is an environment that brings together a set of fragile ecosystems of dunes, mangroves and estuaries, there is the premise that the territory is susceptible to the occurrence of risks, both associated with natural dynamics and with anthropic action. Thus, this study aims at conducting an analysis of the main environmental risks associated with the recent territorial dynamics in the municipalities of Areia Branca, Grossos and Tibau, as a way to contribute to territorial planning actions at the Costa Branca Pole and to provide a model of tourism development resilient to crises arising from the performance of environmental risks. In this sense, it presents the following research questions: What are the environmental risks identified on the coast of Costa Branca? How are these environmental risks related to the dynamics of the territory built throughout its historical process?