Brazil Deforestation Falls Below 1 Million Hectares in 2025

Overview

• MapBiomas' RAD2025, released Wednesday, found Brazil lost 984,794 hectares of native vegetation in 2025, a 20.6% decline from 2024 and the lowest annual total since 2019.
• The Cerrado and the Amazon together accounted for the bulk of the loss with 540,614 hectares and 289,478 hectares respectively while the Matopiba states plus Mato Grosso made up about 63% of the national total.
• MapBiomas attributes roughly 99% of 2025 deforestation to expansion of pasture and row crops, and the report shows a tiny fraction of registered properties (0.6%) were responsible for about 85% of the cleared area.
• National declines mask sharp local events: Canto do Buriti (Piauí) recorded the largest municipal loss at 20,877 hectares and Paraná saw a 59% rise tied largely to the Miringuava reservoir and pasture conversion.
• The RAD links reductions to greater enforcement, embargoes and transparency and notes market and policy risks such as the EU Deforestation Regulation while warning protected areas and indigenous lands still recorded nontrivial losses.