Considering the relative legal conflicts of the economic exploitation carried out by saline companies in Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, the present dissertation questions whether the economic exploitation of saline in mangrove ecosystems in the Apodi-Mossoró estuary is being promoted in harmony with the right to development as an integrating human right. As a main objective, it is intended to present theoretical and legal perspectives that fall within the possibility of contributing to the administration or management of the conflict. The research is structured in four chapters according to the specific objectives proposed, namely: to study mangrove ecosystems and the legal regime; present a brief overview of the exploitation of salt flats in the State of Rio Grande do Norte; understand the legal conflict in the relationship between environmental preservation of mangroves and the functioning of the salt sector in Apodi-Mossoró; confront and analyze the findings under the mediation of theoretical categories of analysis. The research is justified by the socio-environmental crisis that is becoming more acute every day between the State, the market and society in order to discuss the possible irregular occupation of salt works in APPs; for the supervenience of Presidential Decree nº 9824/2019, which classified it as an activity of social interest, and it is necessary to qualify the legal implications; and, by the emergence of discussing a fair and adequate human development plexus that will enable guidelines and bases for economic growth, without, however, putting the environmental balance at risk. For this purpose, methodological procedures were used: documentary research, of a descriptive character, whose nature of the study, from the point of view of the investigation of the problem, will be especially qualitative. From the point of view of research techniques, direct and indirect documentation, they will be notably bibliographic and documentary. The data reveal that saline companies have a historical presence in the region that legitimizes their permanence, however, in recent years, salt production has increased exponentially and such expansion has occurred in an unregulated manner, advancing unsustainably in the mangroves. It was found that the salt pans that most degrade the estuarine complex had pending environmental regulations; the lack of a legal duty to systematically map apicuns and salt pans occupied by salt pans; the economicist bias that predominates in the expositions of interministerial motivations in the administrative process of the Decree; the urgent need for recovery and conservation plans for the mangrove areas, as well as for the Mossoró River, which are the ecosystems most affected by the exponential activity. The environmental dimension is seriously disrespected, and consequently the others, as it follows a reductionist economic development model as a synonym for economic growth due to the predominance of economic-instrumental rationality in this system, which is based much more on the search for maximizing profits and production levels than with the preservation and recovery of estuarine complexes. The construction of a new environmental rationale is advocated, and as a parameter the Right to Development as an integrating human right, which addresses the political, economic, cultural, social aspects and the strong sustainability variable. Such an approach effectively has an emancipatory potential in the face of the economicist bias that has been privileged by public and private powers. Therefore, it is necessary to implement them in a governance for sustainability through appropriate public policies that require the mobilization of all actors as agents of change in a curatorial role