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The objective of this study was to evaluate the land use and land cover conditions in the municipality of Caucaia, located in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza (RMF), state of Ceará, with emphasis on the Permanent Preservation Areas (APP). The theoretical and methodological procedures were based on the bibliographical and cartographic survey of the space sector under analysis, and the geocartographic products were validated in field works and through the design of the statistical index of concordance of kappa. Nineteen classes of land use and land cover were mapped, and the ones with the greatest territorial extension were: Open caatinga / Agriculture (39.92%), Closed caatinga (14.28%), Open forest tabuleiro / Agriculture (10.08%), Dry forest (8.01%) and urbanized area (5.48%). The legal-institutional basis of the research included the APP, APA of the Ceará River, APA of Lagamar do Cauhípe, Ecological Station of Pecém, Park botany of Ceará and Tapajos Indigenous Land. By combining the land use and land cover information with the legalinstitutional base map, it was found that: there is significant degradation of the riparian forests of the courses and water sources; The mangroves and paleodunas are being affected by indiscriminate deforestation and; In PPAs the use of land in agriculture-related activities is significant. Finally, it is mentioned that the results indicate the highlight of geoprocessing techniques for this type of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]