The destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil reached its lowest level in 2025 since the MapBiomas monitoring network began recording data. According to the report published Wednesday, less than one million hectares were deforested in the country last year, the first time in six years.
Nearly 985,000 hectares of vegetation disappeared in 2025, a decrease of more than 20% compared to the previous year. In the Brazilian Amazon alone, the deforested area fell by 23,5%, reaching its lowest level since 2019. Despite this improvement, the report's authors note that approximately five trees per second continue to be uprooted in the region.
Lula highlights his environmental record
These figures are a positive sign for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has made the fight against deforestation one of the major axes of his mandate and has committed to eliminating illegal deforestation by 2030. MapBiomas experts attribute this decrease in particular to the strengthening of controls and sanctions against illegal activities.
Agricultural expansion remains the primary cause of ecosystem destruction in Brazil, accounting for almost all affected areas. The Cerrado, a vast savanna south of the Amazon, remains the most impacted biome, despite a slight improvement in the figures this year.
Environmental organizations remain cautious. They denounce several projects recently supported by the Brazilian government, including reforms deemed less protective of the environment and a controversial oil exploration project off the coast of the Amazon.
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