Demographic dynamics and socio-economic development as drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Atlantic forest: a GIS integration of census and remote sensing data at different spatial scales

Humberto Alves, CEBRAP

In this paper, I will present and discuss the methodology and the main findings of my doctoral dissertation, submitted in February 2004 at University of Campinas-UNICAMP, Brazil, with Dr. Daniel Hogan as advisor. In this study, we do an analysis of the socio-demographic factors associated with land cover change and deforestation processes in the Ribeira Valley watershed, a region that concentrates the biggest remnants of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The main objective is to analyze the role of demographic dynamics and socio-economic development upon deforestation processes, in the last 25 years, at regional, municipal, district and census tracts levels. We also look at role of conservation units and topography on deforestation. The methodology for the analysis is the integration of socio-demographic data (from Brazilian demographic census – 1991 and 2000) and land cover change data (from satellite images – Landsat TM), at different levels of aggregation (spatial scales), in a geographic information system (GIS).