MapBiomas says Brazil’s native vegetation loss fell 20.6% in 2025 to its lowest level since 2019
The Facts
- MapBiomas reported that Brazil lost about 985,000 hectares of native vegetation in 2025.
- That total was down 20.6% from 2024 and was the lowest annual figure since MapBiomas began tracking deforestation in 2019.
- Brazil’s total area of native vegetation loss fell below 1 million hectares for the first time in the MapBiomas series.
- The reduction was recorded across all six of Brazil’s major ecosystems, not only in the Amazon.
- The report does not include forest areas destroyed by fires.
- Brazil was relatively spared major fires in 2025 after a record fire season in 2024, a context that affects how the deforestation figures should be interpreted.
- The findings are politically relevant because President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has made reducing deforestation a priority and has pledged to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030.
- Despite the decline, vegetation loss remains substantial, with the Cerrado still recording the largest deforested area in 2025.
How left and right are reading this
- Both agree
- The drop in native vegetation loss was real and broad-based across Brazil’s major ecosystems, but it is not a clean all-clear: the figures exclude fire-destroyed forest areas, and destruction remained substantial, especially in the Cerrado.
- They split on
- Less a disagreement than a question of emphasis: whether the main takeaway is a politically meaningful environmental gain across all six ecosystems, or the need for strict caution because fire exclusions and continued Cerrado loss limit how reassuring the numbers are.
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Context
What exactly did the new report measure?
It measured the area of native vegetation lost in Brazil in 2025, reporting about 985,000 hectares cleared nationwide; the report says this total does not include forest loss caused by fires EWN Traffic,stern.de.
Why does this matter beyond Brazil?
Multiple reports note that preserving forest cover matters for absorbing carbon dioxide and slowing global warming, which is why Brazil’s deforestation trend is watched internationally SudOuest.fr,La Presse.ca,La Libre.be.
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Independent coverage (50)
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