Deforestation falls by 30% in the Amazon and 25% in the Cerrado, says Inpe

Deforestation in the Amazon is the lowest since 2017. Between August 2023 and July 2024, the deforested area was 6,288 km². In the Cerrado, in the same period, 8,174 km² of native vegetation was lost. This is what a report released by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) revealed this Wednesday (6).

Even with the fires that occurred between the months of August and September, there was a 30.6% reduction in deforested area compared to the last study released. The data is part of the annual study of the Deforestation Monitoring Project in the Legal Amazon by Satellite (Prodes).

Deforestation reduced by 45%

The total area deforested in 2004 reached 27,700 km², the highest figure in the last 20 years. In the following years, there was a constant drop in numbers, reaching the lowest rate in 2012, with 4,500 km².

However, in 2019, the numbers rose again, reaching 10,129 km² in 2019; 10,851 km², in 2020; and 13 thousand km², in 2021, showing a small reduction in 2022, of 11,594 km². Between 2023 and 2024, deforestation fell to almost half this value, reaching 6,288 km².

According to environmental entities, the significant current reduction in deforestation in the Amazon is a significant step, showing Brazil's potential to meet the goals of climate agreements.

“We achieved important results, reducing deforestation from more than 9 thousand km² to 6 thousand km², a drop of 45%. What makes the difference are territorial planning actions and economic and regulatory instruments, not just command and control“, declared the Minister of the Environment, Maria Silva.

_{The Cerrado is the biome most affected by the consequences of the expansion of agribusiness in Brazil (Photo: reproduction/Adriano Gabarini/WWF Brasil/Agência Brasil)}

Cerrado data

Between August 2023 and July 2024, the Cerrado lost 8,174 km² of native area, which represents a reduction of 25.7% compared to the previous period. Deforestation reduced by 76.4% in the states of Bahia, Maranhão, Piauí and Tocantins.

The report also showed that this was the first time that the biome showed a reduction in deforested areas in the last four years. Bahia saw a decrease in deforested area by 63.3%; Maranhão with 15.1%; Piauí showed a reduction of 10.1%; The state of Tocantins reduced deforestation by 9.6%.

The preservation of the Cerrado is essential for the distribution of water. The biome is the source of 40% of the country's fresh water and plays a role in absorbing moisture and sharing water for 8 of the 12 basins used in energy generation in Brazil.

With the reduction in deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado, there was a consequent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions of 400.8 million tons of CO2, compared to the study for the years 2021 and 2022.

Featured photo: Burning in the Amazon Rainforest (Reproduction/Stephanie Maze/Getty Images Embed)