Indicators and environmental management in Guanabara Bay (Brazil)

While economic model has been built as an unlimited source of technological and economic growth, the ecological systems were gradually impacted different types of waste. The equation which gives industries a considerable economic importance and not considers human and environmental needs as important issues, results in environmental and social degradation. At this point it is difficult to decide what is the priority in some cases: education, social equity, environmental conservation or other related aspects. In this context, this paper proposes a framework for monitoring 11 cities around the Guanabara Bay (Brazil). This framework was designed based on a list of social, economic and environmental indicators prioritized in order to decide what set of indicators would be suitable in decision making, development of environmental policies and programs in municipal environmental concerns, besides it inform citizens about the environmental performance of Guanabara Bay. The study was carried on by different specialists and discussion roundtables were done to define the most suitable set of indicators to guarantee an effective environmental monitoring and improvement of its characteristics according to sustainable development concepts. As a result, it was verified that different sets of indicators would be more interesting for each city due to the potential and capability of each one in management air, water and soil conditions and consequently reduce negative impacts and provide better life quality for population.