Natural Resource Valuation and Policy in Brazil: Methods and Cases

Brazil's environmental problems, especially Amazon deforestation, have attracted considerable attention, particularly in the developed world. Peter May brings a sharper and more critical focus to bear on this topic by offering a general overview and seven microeconomic case studies on particular problems in the Brazilian environment.

Focusing on discrete resource problems at a subnational scale, this practical book shows how work at the state and local level can lead to more sustainable development policies not only in Brazil but also in many other developing nations. Uniting specific Brazilian applications of more general principles of natural resource and environmental valuation to support policy-making for land use and economic development, Natural Resource Valuation and Policy in Brazil shows how such methods support efforts to incorporate environmental concerns in decision-making processes.

Peter May is professor of ecological economics and agrarian policies at the Federal Reserve Rural University of Rio de Janeiro and is a consultant to the World Bank, UNCTAD, and FAO. He is the coauthor of The Subsidy from Nature (Columbia, 1991).