Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonia and Spatial Heterogeneity: a Local Environmental Kuznets Curve Approach

There is a concern about the increasing pressure over the forest as economic growth increases. As for the Brazilian Amazon deforestation, there are noticeable intra-regional differences due to its occupation history, extensive area, economic structure and geographical aspects, inducing a strong spatial heterogeneity in this environmental phenomenon. This paper investigates locally the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis applied to the Brazilian Amazon region whether there is an inverted “U” relation between a deforested area and economic growth for each municipality in Brazilian Amazonia from 2001 to 2006. Some other variables were considered in explaining deforestation: the amount of cattle, soybean and sugar cane plantations, vegetal extraction and forestry products, population density, rural credit, and previous forested area. The local econometric model was estimated using geographically weighted regressions (GWR). The results show different local relations between deforestation and GDP per capita at the municipal level, and also different local relation between deforestation and additional variables.