This page collects deforestation alert data published by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and Imazon, a Brazilian NGO. INPE’s system is called DETER for Sistema de Detecção do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal em Tempo Real, while Imazon’s system is called SAD for Sistema de Alerta de Deforestation.
As explained here, month-to-month deforestation is highly variable. Short-term, alert-based deforestation detection systems do not penetrate cloud cover, so during the rainy season — from roughly November to April — estimates are notoriously unreliable when compared to the same month a year earlier. Furthermore, most forest clearing in the Amazon occurs when it is dry. So if the dry season is early, deforestation may increase earlier than normal. For these reasons, the most accurate deforestation comparisons are made year-on-year. For Brazil, the deforestation “year” ends July 31: the peak of the dry season when the largest extent of forest is typically visible via satellite.
Short-term data isn’t useless though — it can provide insights on trends, especially over longer periods of time. Generally, comparing 12 consecutive months of alert data will provide a pretty good indication of deforestation relative to other years. Therefore the charts below include monthly data as well as the 12-month moving average (Trailing Twelve Months = “TTM”).
Last update: 2024-Feb-17
Table: Monthly deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
Month | DETER | DETER TTM | SAD | SAD TTM |
---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 2008 | 1,124 | 156 | ||
May 2008 | 1,096 | 9,190 | 294 | 5,603 |
Jun 2008 | 871 | 9,064 | 612 | 5,716 |
Jul 2008 | 324 | 8,536 | 276 | 5,031 |
Aug 2008 | 757 | 7,835 | 102 | 4,470 |
Sep 2008 | 587 | 8,400 | 321 | 3,679 |
Oct 2008 | 541 | 8,457 | 102 | 3,257 |
Nov 2008 | 355 | 8,554 | 61 | 2,251 |
Dec 2008 | 177 | 8,013 | 50 | 2,233 |
Jan 2009 | 222 | 7,342 | 51 | 2,202 |
Feb 2009 | 143 | 6,925 | 62 | 2,201 |
Mar 2009 | 18 | 6,343 | 57 | 2,144 |
Apr 2009 | 37 | 6,214 | 121 | 2,109 |
May 2009 | 124 | 5,127 | 157 | 1,972 |
Jun 2009 | 578 | 4,155 | 150 | 1,510 |
Jul 2009 | 836 | 3,862 | 532 | 1,766 |
Aug 2009 | 498 | 4,375 | 273 | 1,937 |
Sep 2009 | 400 | 4,116 | 216 | 1,832 |
Oct 2009 | 176 | 3,929 | 194 | 1,924 |
Nov 2009 | 72 | 3,564 | 74 | 1,937 |
Dec 2009 | 3,281 | 16 | 1,903 | |
Jan 2010 | 23 | 3,104 | 63 | 1,915 |
Feb 2010 | 185 | 2,905 | 88 | 1,941 |
Mar 2010 | 52 | 2,947 | 76 | 1,960 |
Apr 2010 | 52 | 2,981 | 65 | 1,904 |
May 2010 | 110 | 2,996 | 96 | 1,843 |
Jun 2010 | 244 | 2,982 | 172 | 1,865 |
Jul 2010 | 485 | 2,647 | 155 | 1,488 |
Aug 2010 | 265 | 2,296 | 210 | 1,425 |
Sep 2010 | 448 | 2,063 | 170 | 1,379 |
Oct 2010 | 389 | 2,111 | 153 | 1,338 |
Nov 2010 | 121 | 2,324 | 65 | 1,329 |
Dec 2010 | 21 | 2,372 | 175 | 1,488 |
Jan 2011 | 36 | 2,394 | 83 | 1,508 |
Feb 2011 | 1 | 2,407 | 63 | 1,483 |
Mar 2011 | 116 | 2,223 | 46 | 1,453 |
Apr 2011 | 477 | 2,287 | 298 | 1,686 |
May 2011 | 268 | 2,712 | 165 | 1,755 |
Jun 2011 | 313 | 2,871 | 99 | 1,682 |
Jul 2011 | 225 | 2,940 | 93 | 1,620 |
Aug 2011 | 163 | 2,680 | 240 | 1,650 |
Sep 2011 | 254 | 2,578 | 170 | 1,650 |
Oct 2011 | 386 | 2,384 | 102 | 1,599 |
Nov 2011 | 133 | 2,381 | 16 | 1,550 |
Dec 2011 | 75 | 2,393 | 40 | 1,415 |
Jan 2012 | 22 | 2,446 | 33 | 1,365 |
Feb 2012 | 307 | 2,432 | 107 | 1,409 |
Mar 2012 | 60 | 2,737 | 53 | 1,416 |
Apr 2012 | 233 | 2,681 | 71 | 1,189 |
May 2012 | 99 | 2,437 | 43 | 1,067 |
Jun 2012 | 108 | 2,268 | 35 | 1,003 |
Jul 2012 | 214 | 2,062 | 140 | 1,050 |
Aug 2012 | 522 | 2,051 | 232 | 1,042 |
Sep 2012 | 283 | 2,410 | 431 | 1,303 |
Oct 2012 | 277 | 2,439 | 487 | 1,688 |
Nov 2012 | 205 | 2,331 | 55 | 1,727 |
Dec 2012 | 131 | 2,403 | 82 | 1,769 |
Jan 2013 | 9 | 2,459 | 35 | 1,771 |
Feb 2013 | 270 | 2,447 | 45 | 1,709 |
Mar 2013 | 28 | 2,410 | 80 | 1,736 |
Apr 2013 | 147 | 2,378 | 140 | 1,805 |
May 2013 | 465 | 2,293 | 84 | 1,846 |
Jun 2013 | 210 | 2,659 | 184 | 1,995 |
Jul 2013 | 217 | 2,762 | 152 | 2,007 |
Aug 2013 | 289 | 2,766 | 185 | 1,960 |
Sep 2013 | 443 | 2,532 | 103 | 1,632 |
Oct 2013 | 155 | 2,692 | 43 | 1,188 |
Nov 2013 | 108 | 2,569 | 37 | 1,170 |
Dec 2013 | 93 | 2,472 | 56 | 1,144 |
Jan 2014 | 75 | 2,434 | 107 | 1,216 |
Feb 2014 | 119 | 2,500 | 11 | 1,182 |
Mar 2014 | 53 | 2,349 | 20 | 1,122 |
Apr 2014 | 166 | 2,374 | 100 | 1,082 |
May 2014 | 271 | 2,394 | 185 | 1,183 |
Jun 2014 | 535 | 2,200 | 843 | 1,842 |
Jul 2014 | 729 | 2,525 | 355 | 2,045 |
Aug 2014 | 890 | 3,036 | 437 | 2,297 |
Sep 2014 | 736 | 3,638 | 402 | 2,596 |
Oct 2014 | 298 | 3,931 | 244 | 2,797 |
Nov 2014 | 77 | 4,074 | 195 | 2,955 |
Dec 2014 | 85 | 4,043 | 95 | 2,994 |
Jan 2015 | 129 | 4,035 | 289 | 3,176 |
Feb 2015 | 61 | 4,089 | 42 | 3,207 |
Mar 2015 | 155 | 4,031 | 58 | 3,245 |
Apr 2015 | 334 | 4,133 | 137 | 3,282 |
May 2015 | 588 | 4,301 | 389 | 3,486 |
Jun 2015 | 855 | 4,618 | 494 | 3,137 |
Jul 2015 | 914 | 4,937 | 542 | 3,324 |
Aug 2015 | 654 | 5,122 | 415 | 3,302 |
Sep 2015 | 504 | 4,885 | 229 | 3,129 |
Oct 2015 | 377 | 4,653 | 230 | 3,115 |
Nov 2015 | 240 | 4,732 | 99 | 3,019 |
Dec 2015 | 89 | 4,896 | 175 | 3,099 |
Jan 2016 | 63 | 4,899 | 52 | 2,862 |
Feb 2016 | 534 | 4,832 | 0 | 2,820 |
Mar 2016 | 123 | 5,305 | 213 | 2,975 |
Apr 2016 | 436 | 5,274 | 183 | 3,021 |
May 2016 | 784 | 5,375 | 474 | 3,106 |
Jun 2016 | 1,431 | 5,571 | 972 | 3,584 |
Jul 2016 | 738 | 6,147 | 539 | 3,581 |
Aug 2016 | 1,025 | 5,974 | 582 | 3,748 |
Sep 2016 | 691 | 6,164 | 387 | 3,906 |
Oct 2016 | 750 | 6,364 | 202 | 3,878 |
Nov 2016 | 367 | 6,418 | 37 | 3,816 |
Dec 2016 | 17 | 6,162 | 0 | 3,641 |
Jan 2017 | 58 | 5,986 | 42 | 3,631 |
Feb 2017 | 101 | 5,971 | 0 | 3,631 |
Mar 2017 | 74 | 5,737 | 97 | 3,515 |
Apr 2017 | 127 | 5,437 | 96 | 3,428 |
May 2017 | 363 | 5,270 | 365 | 3,319 |
Jun 2017 | 609 | 4,928 | 537 | 2,884 |
Jul 2017 | 458 | 4,639 | 544 | 2,889 |
Aug 2017 | 278 | 3,892 | 184 | 2,491 |
Sep 2017 | 403 | 3,603 | 241 | 2,345 |
Oct 2017 | 440 | 3,293 | 261 | 2,404 |
Nov 2017 | 354 | 3,280 | 56 | 2,423 |
Dec 2017 | 288 | 3,551 | 184 | 2,607 |
Jan 2018 | 183 | 3,676 | 70 | 2,635 |
Feb 2018 | 146 | 3,721 | 214 | 2,849 |
Mar 2018 | 357 | 4,003 | 287 | 3,039 |
Apr 2018 | 490 | 4,366 | 217 | 3,160 |
May 2018 | 550 | 4,552 | 634 | 3,429 |
Jun 2018 | 488 | 4,432 | 1,169 | 4,061 |
Jul 2018 | 596 | 4,571 | 778 | 4,295 |
Aug 2018 | 530 | 4,823 | 545 | 4,656 |
Sep 2018 | 746 | 5,166 | 444 | 4,859 |
Oct 2018 | 526 | 5,253 | 187 | 4,785 |
Nov 2018 | 277 | 5,176 | 287 | 5,016 |
Dec 2018 | 67 | 4,955 | 246 | 5,078 |
Jan 2019 | 136 | 4,909 | 108 | 5,116 |
Feb 2019 | 139 | 4,902 | 93 | 4,995 |
Mar 2019 | 251 | 4,796 | 67 | 4,775 |
Apr 2019 | 247 | 4,554 | 195 | 4,753 |
May 2019 | 739 | 4,743 | 797 | 4,916 |
Jun 2019 | 935 | 5,190 | 801 | 4,548 |
Jul 2019 | 2,255 | 6,849 | 1,287 | 5,057 |
Aug 2019 | 1,713 | 8,032 | 886 | 5,398 |
Sep 2019 | 1,453 | 8,739 | 802 | 5,756 |
Oct 2019 | 555 | 8,768 | 583 | 6,152 |
Nov 2019 | 563 | 9,054 | 354 | 6,219 |
Dec 2019 | 190 | 9,176 | 227 | 6,200 |
Jan 2020 | 284 | 9,325 | 188 | 6,280 |
Feb 2020 | 186 | 9,371 | 102 | 6,289 |
Mar 2020 | 327 | 9,447 | 324 | 6,546 |
Apr 2020 | 407 | 9,607 | 529 | 6,880 |
May 2020 | 834 | 9,702 | 649 | 6,732 |
Jun 2020 | 1,043 | 9,810 | 822 | 6,753 |
Jul 2020 | 1,659 | 9,214 | 1,147 | 6,613 |
Aug 2020 | 1,359 | 8,859 | 1,499 | 7,226 |
Sep 2020 | 964 | 8,371 | 1,218 | 7,642 |
Oct 2020 | 836 | 8,652 | 890 | 7,949 |
Nov 2020 | 310 | 8,399 | 484 | 8,079 |
Dec 2020 | 216 | 8,425 | 276 | 8,128 |
Jan 2021 | 86 | 8,225 | 196 | 8,136 |
Feb 2021 | 125 | 8,163 | 179 | 8,213 |
Mar 2021 | 368 | 8,204 | 810 | 8,699 |
Apr 2021 | 580 | 8,377 | 778 | 8,948 |
May 2021 | 1,390 | 8,933 | 1,125 | 9,424 |
Jun 2021 | 1,061 | 8,951 | 926 | 9,528 |
Jul 2021 | 1,498 | 8,790 | 2,095 | 10,476 |
Aug 2021 | 918 | 8,350 | 1,606 | 10,583 |
Sep 2021 | 985 | 8,372 | 1,224 | 10,589 |
Oct 2021 | 877 | 8,413 | 803 | 10,502 |
Nov 2021 | 249 | 8,352 | 480 | 10,498 |
Dec 2021 | 87 | 8,223 | 140 | 10,362 |
Jan 2022 | 430 | 8,568 | 261 | 10,427 |
Feb 2022 | 199 | 8,642 | 303 | 10,551 |
Mar 2022 | 312 | 8,587 | 123 | 9,864 |
Apr 2022 | 1,026 | 9,033 | 1,197 | 10,283 |
May 2022 | 900 | 8,543 | 1,476 | 10,634 |
Jun 2022 | 1,120 | 8,602 | 1,429 | 11,137 |
Jul 2022 | 1,487 | 8,590 | 1,739 | 10,781 |
Aug 2022 | 1,661 | 9,333 | 1,415 | 10,590 |
Sep 2022 | 1,455 | 9,803 | 1,126 | 10,492 |
Oct 2022 | 904 | 9,831 | 627 | 10,316 |
Nov 2022 | 555 | 10,136 | 590 | 10,426 |
Dec 2022 | 229 | 10,278 | 287 | 10,573 |
Jan 2023 | 167 | 10,014 | 198 | 10,510 |
Feb 2023 | 322 | 10,137 | 325 | 10,532 |
Mar 2023 | 356 | 10,181 | 344 | 10,753 |
Apr 2023 | 329 | 9,483 | 336 | 9,892 |
May 2023 | 812 | 9,396 | 339 | 8,755 |
Jun 2023 | 663 | 8,939 | 361 | 7,687 |
Jul 2023 | 500 | 7,952 | 499 | 6,447 |
Aug 2023 | 563 | 6,854 | 568 | 5,600 |
Sep 2023 | 629 | 6,029 | 546 | 5,020 |
Oct 2023 | 435 | 5,559 | 290 | 4,683 |
Nov 2023 | 201 | 5,206 | 116 | 4,209 |
Dec 2023 | 177 | 5,154 | 108 | 4,030 |
Jan 2024 | 119 | 5,106 |
In August 2016, the table data for the DETER columns switches from DETER to DETER-B, Brazil’s new deforestation detection system.
- Despite drought, Amazon deforestation alerts hit five-year low
- The Brazilian Amazon experienced a 47% decrease in deforestation in April compared to last year, marking the lowest level in five years, and a 51% decrease over the past 12 months.- Since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January 2023, his administration has effectively curbed deforestation by reinstating conservation programs, strengthening environmental agencies, and supporting Indigenous rights.- The decline in deforestation occurred despite a severe drought affecting the region, which includes record fires in the state of Roraima.
- Secrets from the rainforest’s past uncovered in Amazonian backyards
- Riverbank communities in Amazonas and Rondônia are helping to piece together the puzzle of human presence in the rainforest over the last 10,000 years with archaeological remains found in their backyards and nearby their homes.- Preserved in household museums, pottery fragments compose a collective project drawing together scientists and communities seeking to understand Amazonia’s past.- Ancestral soils known as Amazonian Dark Earths with remains of farming and food preparation are offering clues about how humans transformed the forest over time
- Indigenous leader’s killer is convicted in Brazil, but tensions over land remain
- Bar owner João Carlos da Silva was on April 15 sentenced to 18 years in prison for the murder of Indigenous land defender and teacher Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau four years earlier.- Ari’s murder became symbolic of the struggle land defenders in Brazil face when protecting their ancestral territories, including constant threats and sometimes deadly violence.- The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Territory faces fresh threats after a national lawmaker claimed its current boundaries are wrong and vowed to reduce the area in favor of local cattle ranchers and farmers.- It’s one of several territorial setbacks that Indigenous lands across Brazil are currently facing; others include a territory in Paraná state whose demarcation process has been suspended, and one in Bahía state that could potentially be auctioned off.
- New ban threatens traditional fishers in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state
- Legislation in effect since Jan. 1 has banned fishing in Mato Grosso state rivers for five years, with heavy opposition from environmental defenders and traditional fishers.- The bill affects part of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, the Cerrado savanna and part of the Pantanal wetland, one of the largest continuous wet areas on the planet.- Experts consider fishers in the region guardians of the rivers and fear the bill could eliminate traditional fishing in the state.
- Meet the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners
- This year marks the 35th anniversary of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, which honors one grassroots activist from each of the six inhabited continents.- The 2023 prize winners are Alok Shukla from India, Andrea Vidaurre from the U.S., Marcel Gomes from Brazil, Murrawah Maroochy Johnson from Australia, Teresa Vicente from Spain, and Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu from South Africa.
- Goldman Prize honors Brazilian investigation linking JBS & deforestation
- Marcel Gomes, the executive secretary at investigative journalism outlet Repórter Brasil, is one of this year’s prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize winners.- Gomes coordinated an international investigation in December 2021 on JBS’ beef chain, using a powerful data platform on Brazilian livestock, investigative teams in different countries and a grassroots network of Indigenous communities, local NGOs and small-scale farmers.- In an interview with Mongabay, Marcel Gomes said the Repórter Brasil series pressured big European retailers to stop selling illegally sourced JBS beef and public authorities to monitor big beef companies.- Also known as the “Green Nobel Prize,” the Goldman Environmental Prize honored five other environmental activists on April 29.
- Etelvina Ramos: From coca farmer to opponent of the illegal crop
- Etelvina Ramos’ story encompasses the war in the Colombian Amazon. She grew up alongside coca crops, witnessed several massacres, and was displaced by violence due to the illicit, but profitable, crop.- Now, at 52 years old, she is fighting to replace coca.- Etelvina Ramos has a mission that is contrary to the interests of the drug trafficking industry: through her work in the Workers’ Association of Curillo (ASTRACUR), she is seeking the approval of a rural reserve. This would make it possible to close the pathway to coca production and illegal mining.- Due to her work as an environmental and land defender, she frequently faces threats by illegal armed groups. She admits that she has learned to live with the fear of death.
- Deforestation haunts top Peruvian reserve and its Indigenous communities
- Peru’s Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, considered one of the best-protected nature reserves in the world, has seen a spike in deforestation on its fringes from the expansion of illegal coca cultivation and mining, and new road construction.- The forest loss appears to be affecting the ancestral lands of several Indigenous communities, including the Harakbut, Yine and Matsiguenka peoples, according to a new report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).- The report found that 19,978 hectares (49,367 acres) of forest have been cleared in the buffer of the reserve over the past two decades.- According to Indigenous leaders, the state is doing “practically nothing” to address deforestation drivers in the buffer zone, and they warn that if left unchecked, the activity will spread into the protected area itself.
- Amid record-high fires across the Amazon, Brazil loses primary forests
- The number of fires shows no signs of easing as Brazil’s Roraima faces unprecedented blazes, and several Amazonian countries, including Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela, registered record-high outbreaks in the first quarter this year.- Fire outbreaks in primary (old-growth) forest in Brazil’s Amazon soared by 152% in 2023, according to a recent study, rising from 13,477 in 2022 to 34,012 in 2023.- Fires in the mature forest regions are the leading drivers of degradation of the Amazon Rainforest because the biome hasn’t evolved to adapt to such blazes, according to the researchers.- The fires are a result of a drought that has been fueled by climate change and worsened by natural weather phenomena, such as El Niño, which has intensified dry conditions already aggravated by high temperatures across the world, experts say.
- A web of front people conceals environmental offenders in the Amazon
- A paper trail left by a notorious land grabber reveals how he used relatives and an employee as fronts to evade environmental fines and lawsuits, shedding light on this widespread practice in the Brazilian Amazon.- Fronts prevent the real criminals from having their assets seized to pay for environmental fines, besides consuming time and resources from the authorities, who spend years trying to prove who the real financier of the deforestation is.- Experts say it’s best to go after environmental offenders where it hurts the most, by seizing their assets, rather than to chase down their true identity.- This investigation is part of a partnership between Mongabay and Repórter Brasil.