[Integrated understanding for health surveillance in a forest environment: the case of the Araripe Plateau in Ceará State, Brazil].

Partial results from this study are presented with the objective of developing a health surveillance model for communities living on natural resources in the Araripe National Forest in Ceará State, Brazil. The research is justified primarily on the basis of this forest's importance for quality of life in Northeast Brazil and preservation of the country's forests in general. The study drew on a collective construction of integrated understanding on the subjectivity of social relations with the environment. Social and environmental health problems in the forest context have generally been overlooked by health policy.