Public environmental actions and urban land use planning in the Central-west Region of Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the dissemination of information on environmental actions carried out by public agents in municipalities in the Central-West region of Brazil. A Municipal Index of Public Environmental Actions (IMAPA) was created for this purpose, and the municipalities with the best results in terms of including ecosystem services in their planning were verified. Data from the 2017 Municipal Basic Information Survey provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics were also used. Statistical analyses were conducted using factorial and cluster analyses. The municipalities with the best results in terms of public environmental policies were identified, and their respective master plans were analyzed on their institutional websites (the master plan in Brazil is the instrument used to organize the development and urban expansion of municipalities). Furthermore, elements related to ecosystem services were identified using a script to collect information and analyze the content. According to the IMAPA findings, 20 municipalities in the Central-West region have the best indicators or information dissemination in the region for: 1) Environmental legislation on land use, 2) Local payment for environmental services, and 3) Specific environmental legislation to basic sanitation. Based on the script used, content analysis revealed that there are elements inserted in the master plans regarding ecosystem services, with the potential to expand this content in the documents.