Forest Protection and Human Health: The Case of Malaria in the Brazilian Amazon

Luiza M Karpavicius () and Ariaster Chimeli ()

No 2023_08, Working Papers, Department of Economics from University of São Paulo (FEA-USP)

Abstract: Ecosystem degradation and contact with wildlife is often linked to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and malaria, a major cause of death and incapacitation worldwide. This paper investigates a quasi-experiment involving two forest protection policies for the Brazilian Amazon region and their consequences to malaria incidence. The first inadvertently increased forest degradation in part of the Amazon, whereas the second curbed deforestation in the entire region. Using actual malaria case data distributed across space and over 17 years, we estimate the causal link between deforestation and malaria. The results imply that effective forest protection reduced malaria incidence by over 50%.

Keywords: Malaria; Deforestation; Forest Protection Policies; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 I18 Q23 Q56 Q57 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-07-20, Revised 2023-07-26
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env
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