The Massif of Gericinó - Mendanha, Environmental Conservation Unit, in agreement with the art. 2nd, letter "d" and "and" and the art. 18 of the law 6.938, of 31/08/81, shows a landscape of great scenic beauty with large areas densely forested and with rare biological species threatered with is extinction.

Placed in the Zona Oeste of the Municipal district of Rio de Janeiro, the area is characterized predominantly by occupation of low income, exercing an influence in a resident concentrated population of approximately 2 million inhabitants.

In the last decades, this area has been suffering with the accelerated and not planned urbanization, where zones of agricultural vocation and of preservation are threatered by the settling of habitational groups, appearance and expansion of slums, and waste deposits.

These aspects urge, the need to evaluate the social-environmental relationships between the population and the Massif. As well as, to evidence the growing degradation of the forested area, through multitemporal analysis.

The area considered as direct influence from the Massif, was defined by the horizontal axis that ties the extreme east and west slopes, embracing the surrounding neighborhoods: Campo Grande, Sacred, Cosmos, Senator Vasconcelos, Bangu, Senator Camará, Priest Miguel and Realengo.

Crossing the map of use of the soil in different times, associated with the social environmental investigations, it was demonstrated an urgent need of an environmental administration plan in the Massif. Also the formulation of an ecological touristic plan, seeking the generation of business and lazer, in another program this will integrate the population adjacent to the Massif, generating a maintainable development for the area.