Using GIS to Map Priority Areas for Conservation Versus Mineral Exploration: Territorial Sea of Espírito Santo State, Brazil, Study Case

This paper applied a GIS platform (ArcGis software) as a tool to measure the conflicting use between priority areas for conservation and potential mineral and oil and gas exploitation sites. The study has as goal to analyze and quantify the distribution of each process stage, to determine the current and future multiple uses of the study area in order to understand the impact that such activities may have on the preservation areas. It’s a tool that contributes to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically number 14, about Conservation and sustainably use of the oceans, seas and marine resources. The study area encompasses the territorial sea of Espírito Santo State. The software was used to produce maps and to analyze the overlap between the different uses. Large numbers of authorization and research requirements were found in Priority Areas for Conservation (PAC) in order to extract substances such as salts of potassium and limestone in larger quantities in the PAC. The study provides a basis for conflict identification for the sustainable management of the exploitation of marine mineral resources, which should include the management of extraction activities aiming at the sustainability of the ecosystem, valuing the existence of areas with greater sensitivity.