Deforestation in the Amazon hits lowest February rate in historical records

Deforestation alerts in the Legal Amazon (Amazônia Legal) reached the lowest level for the month of February, according to data released by the National Institute for Space Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais /INPE). A total of 80.95 km² of deforested areas were recorded in February 2025, representing a 64.26% decrease compared to the same period last year, when 226.51 km² of deforestation were detected.

The worst year was 2023, when deforestation alerts covered an area of 321.97 km² during the period. The alerts were issued by the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (Sistema de Detecção de Desmatamento em Tempo Real  /DETER), developed as an early warning system to support the monitoring and control of deforestation and forest degradation carried out by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis /IBAMA) and other relevant agencies.

STATES — The Legal Amazon represents 59% of Brazil's territory and includes the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins, and part of Maranhão. In February 2025, the state with the highest deforestation alerts was Mato Grosso (29 km²), followed by Roraima (18 km²), Pará (15 km²), Amazonas (11 km²), Maranhão (4 km²), Rondônia (3 km²), and Acre (2 km²).

CERRADO — The Cerrado biome also saw a decrease in deforestation alerts in February 2025, with 494.05 km² of deforestation recorded, compared to 655.51 km² in 2024. This was the highest figure in the historical series that began in 2019.

The states of Piauí (118.1 km²), Bahia (104.71 km²), and Tocantins (97.45 km²) lead the ranking of deforested areas, accounting for the majority of the devastation. However, the states of Mato Grosso (52.81 km²) and Maranhão (57.4 km²) showed lower deforestation rates.

ZERO DEFORESTATION — The Federal Government has been implementing various public policies to reduce deforestation in the country, reaffirming Brazil’s commitment to zero deforestation by 2030. One of the main actions was the resumption of the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (Plano de Ação para Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal /PPCDAm), originally launched in 2004 and discontinued in 2019. Reestablished in 2023, the plan maintains the strategic areas of territorial and land management, environmental monitoring and control, promotion of sustainable productive activities, and regulatory and economic instruments.

In addition, a BRL 730 million partnership was established with Amazon municipalities to combat deforestation and forest fires, as part of the PPCDAm. These funds, sourced from the Amazon Fund and the Floresta+ program, will be invested until 2027 in actions such as land and environmental regularization, technical assistance for sustainable production, and the creation of municipal fire brigades. The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima /MMA) has also established a list of priority municipalities within the biome for prevention, control, and reduction of deforestation and forest degradation.