Determinants of the Brazilian Amazon deforestation

Abstract

The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest biome, containing almost 50% of the planet’s known biodiversity and is the biggest source of fresh water, which is approximately one-fifth of the global reserves. However, the sustainable use of this ecosystem is threatened by several factors, and deforestation is the main problem. This study addresses the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon forest, in particular evaluate the determinants of the deforestation process, using for this purpose, time-series of several socioeconomic factors from 1990 to 2015. The methodology applied included statistical analyzes based on the application of multivariate discriminant analysis with the stepwise criteria. The results showed that in order of importance cattle, roads network, population, logging and crop areas were the determinant variables of the deforestation in the amazon. Key words: Cattle, population, deforestation, Brazilian Amazon.