Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the São Paulo Macrometropolis

The SPMM has undergone historical economic and demographic transformations, requiring natural resources for its development. The remaining native vegetation of the Atlantic Forest covers around 30% of the SPMM's territory, being mainly within protected areas, which currently implies little deforestation. Recent data suggest that the State of São Paulo is going through a forest transition process, with government incentives for the preservation. However, this process is spatially quite heterogeneous and some regions still have considerable deforestation. Thus, nowadays the alteration that occurs on the surface is mainly the change between anthropic land uses, with great emphasis on the urbanization process. In fact, the intense process of urbanization, especially in large urban centers, can be inappropriate and generate environmental and social impacts, associated with increased vulnerability of the population to climate change and natural disasters.