Monthly deforestation, degradation, and wildfire scar data for the Brazilian Amazon

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) publishes land use change data on a monthly basis using its DETER-B system (Sistema de Detecção do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal em Tempo Real). Below is a table with the monthly data since the system went public in August 2016. All figures are square kilometers.

Last update: 2024-Feb-17

Month Deforestation Degradation Deforestation with Exposed Soil Deforestation with Vegetation Mining Wildfire scar Selective Cut Type 1+2
Aug 2016 1025.1 1673.8 1009.7 13.1 2.3 9285.8 539.5
Sep 2016 691.4 472.2 687.1 1.4 3.0 4244.3 275.9
Oct 2016 749.8 899.7 739.0 1.9 8.9 4081.9 292.0
Nov 2016 367.1 354.1 363.2 2.2 1.6 569.1 147.5
Dec 2016 16.5 8.5 16.5 0.0 0.0 13.5 0.0
Jan 2017 58.2 14.3 58.2 0.0 0.0 10.2 0.0
Feb 2017 101.3 12.2 101.2 0.0 0.1 0.0 1.2
Mar 2017 74.2 23.2 73.6 0.2 0.4 5.2 0.5
Apr 2017 126.9 40.1 121.3 4.0 1.6 2.9 0.7
May 2017 363.5 128.3 340.3 7.8 15.4 4.1 61.1
Jun 2017 608.3 128.2 504.0 84.8 19.4 75.0 53.6
Jul 2017 457.7 156.6 407.9 47.5 2.3 40.0 131.1
Aug 2017 289.1 278.0 286.9 0.8 1.4 101.6 262.1
Sep 2017 411.4 339.5 409.5 0.0 1.9 7757.8 165.7
Oct 2017 456.5 427.6 452.9 0.6 3.0 6857.8 178.4
Nov 2017 359.7 199.9 352.9 3.1 3.6 1843.2 398.4
Dec 2017 293.7 264.5 284.3 4.9 4.4 1152.0 125.2
Jan 2018 182.6 206.6 149.6 27.3 5.7 1589.7 71.9
Feb 2018 146.3 96.2 139.0 6.9 0.4 406.6 0.0
Mar 2018 356.6 246.1 318.4 33.7 4.4 507.5 110.6
Apr 2018 489.5 280.3 428.0 51.8 9.7 710.6 95.8
May 2018 549.9 239.8 452.1 78.2 19.5 313.2 130.7
Jun 2018 488.2 569.1 407.0 66.9 14.3 467.5 218.9
Jul 2018 596.3 700.9 562.4 24.1 9.8 199.0 188.0
Aug 2018 525.9 325.7 494.6 22.2 9.1 616.3 130.6
Sep 2018 746.0 306.5 728.6 12.2 5.3 1294.4 372.6
Oct 2018 526.2 196.5 505.7 13.8 6.7 136.2 135.2
Nov 2018 276.9 66.3 271.5 5.2 0.2 12.3 124.0
Dec 2018 67.2 8.4 63.5 3.4 0.4 0.0 9.3
Jan 2019 136.1 49.4 130.6 4.9 0.6 33.9 42.7
Feb 2019 138.1 19.8 118.6 14.2 5.3 18.1 8.6
Mar 2019 251.48 41.63 233.81 16.09 1.58 473.44 48.26
Apr 2019 247.39 70.25 229.79 13.91 3.69 679.78 9.32
May 2019 738.56 60.91 623.06 81.03 34.47 58.38 57.53
Jun 2019 934.81 58.48 854.27 67.98 12.56 656.94 183.74
Jul 2019 2255.33 520.55 2005.49 225.86 23.98 722.68 389.26
Aug 2019 1714.31 374.96 1675.38 32.08 6.85 1380.99 847.91
Sep 2019 1453.64 331.04 1436.15 13.65 3.84 3851.01 599.54
Oct 2019 555.27 313.29 545.64 6.66 2.97 516.74 217.35
Nov 2019 562.8 101.27 548.56 7.17 7.07 151.8 490.54
Dec 2019 189.94 29.14 183.37 4.04 2.53 13.99 46.13
Jan 2020 284.28 89.27 264.49 14.69 5.1 7.83 173.67
Feb 2020 185.73 13.07 180.04 1.71 3.98 14.07 62.8
Mar 2020 326.94 23.51 317.79 5.46 3.69 1.88 0.8
Apr 2020 407.2 27.34 392.86 8.95 5.39 14.53 27.59
May 2020 833.57 18.41 802.64 23.25 7.68 19.16 54.04
Jun 2020 1043.23 167.81 923.83 97.55 21.85 12.76 138.24
Jul 2020 1658.97 328.48 1578.53 56.79 23.65 287.25 717.31
Aug 2020 1353.89 241.49 1330.36 7.74 15.79 773.7 854.66
Sep 2020 962.55 204.75 952.03 3.32 7.2 9824.12 623.59
Oct 2020 835.72 252.12 832.14 0.84 2.74 3358.84 680.26
Nov 2020 309.76 87.83 305.53 3.68 0.55 731.23 148.76
Dec 2020 215.42 49.18 212.02 0.9 2.5 127.36 69.85
Jan 2021 82.88 21.19 82.31 0 0.57 32.43 17.1
Feb 2021 122.8 7.14 120.59 0 2.21 6.52 19.99
Mar 2021 367.61 34.87 361.15 0.29 6.17 22.62 25.06
Apr 2021 579.98 54.59 561.41 8.7 9.87 23.86 73.43
May 2021 1390.12 232.63 1302.88 49.3 37.94 26.65 284.99
Jun 2021 1061.37 243.65 1006.49 30.41 24.47 190.35 470.97
Jul 2021 1497.93 367.28 1468.61 13.3 16.02 117.73 733.7
Aug 2021 918.24 323.08 907.03 4.01 7.2 948.18 602.94
Sep 2021 984.61 338 977.05 1.07 6.49 1216.65 1111.23
Oct 2021 876.56 214.42 862.83 5.21 8.52 556.25 676.63
Nov 2021 249.49 59.31 247.58 1.37 0.54 43.12 71.87
Dec 2021 87.19 10.45 85.88 0 1.31 0.94 19.05
Jan 2022 430.44 47.17 426.96 0 3.48 26.43 99.14
Feb 2022 198.67 13.75 195.74 0.46 2.47 7.21 8.72
Mar 2022 312.23 25.2 309.36 0.4 2.47 11.03 16.33
Apr 2022 1026.35 123.44 1012.82 4.67 8.86 14.5 49.88
May 2022 899.64 108.02 884 6.19 9.45 1.22 108.8
Jun 2022 1120.2 93.18 1103.29 5.14 11.77 3.04 277
Jul 2022 1486.71 354.7 1405.85 68.88 11.98 3212.02 1308.24
Aug 2022 1661.02 347.12 1640.01 15.22 5.79 5668.93 575.83
Sep 2022 1454.76 353.71 1453.25 0.25 1.26 1962.87 647.88
Oct 2022 903.86 732.27 902.2 0.11 1.55 401.12 317.22
Nov 2022 554.66 118.3 549.76 0.59 4.31 399.57 424.34
Dec 2022 229.07 17.37 227.16 0.84 1.07 36.62 45.93
Jan 2023 166.58 7.62 162.27 2.43 1.88 24.68 8.24
Feb 2023 321.97 45.33 312.13 0.69 9.15 24.18 21.28
Mar 2023 356.14 34.79 335.36 10.5 10.28 21.57 79.31
Apr 2023 328.71 76.06 300.01 21.7 7 26.25 42.59
May 2023 812.32 170.12 544.33 256.05 11.94 49.98 591.6
Jun 2023 663 162.29 483.74 158.66 20.6 87.74 366.88
Jul 2023 499.91 248.54 442.57 47.5 9.84 42.89 770.16
Aug 2023 563.09 491.63 547.68 8.89 6.52 942.37 632.09
Sep 2023 629.32 714.74 613.51 0.81 15 1106.01 1064.73
Oct 2023 434.56 568.06 429.15 0.84 4.57 2366.51 683.49
Nov 2023 201.1 216.15 200.21 0.24 0.65 2126.17 172.68
Dec 2023 176.8 125.69 174.18 0.38 2.24 1446.74 218.89
Jan 2024 118.86 17.45 109.97 7.53 1.36 314.49 52.98

 


 

  • Loggers and carbon projects forge odd partnerships in the Brazilian Amazon

    - Mongabay examined four REDD+ projects in Pará state and found that all were developed in partnership with sawmill owners with a long history of environmental fines.- The projects were developed by Brazil’s largest carbon credit generator, Carbonext, a company linked to a major fraud involving REDD+ projects and illegal loggers in Amazonas state.- According to experts, REDD+ projects may have become a new business opportunity for individuals who have profited from deforestation for decades.

  • ‘Bear’s-eye camera’ reveals elusive Andean bear cannibalism and treetop mating

    - Scientists captured the first-ever camera collar footage of wild Andean bears, revealing unprecedented behaviors, including canopy mating and cannibalism.- The research team, led by Indigenous researcher Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, successfully tracked a male bear for four months in Peru’s challenging cloud forest terrain.- The footage challenges previous assumptions about Andean bears being solitary vegetarians and shows them behaving more like other bear species.- While the bears face mounting threats from climate change and human conflict, researchers are combining scientific study with community education to protect them.

  • Climate financing should come from oil and gas ‘super’ profits, study says

    - Oil and gas companies have the ability to become a significant source of climate financing, a new study in Climate Policy argues.- The study looked at oil and gas profits from 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine spiked energy prices across the globe, boosting realized companies’ earnings by 65%, or around $495 billion.- If governments had imposed an additional 30% tax on the profits of private oil and gas companies, it would have raised $147 billion, the study said.- Climate financing was the focus of the COP 29 climate conference, which only managed to come up with $300 billion in annual support for developing countries.

  • ‘Trump is a disease’, says Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa

    - In addition to being a shaman, Davi Kopenawa is a shaman and a political leader active in denouncing the gold miners who illegally invaded the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in the Brazilian Amazon.- The Yanomami, who inhabit Brazil’s largest Indigenous Land, still face a humanitarian and health crisis, worsened by the invasion of 70,000 illegal miners. Increased under the Jair Bolsonaro government, the invasion brought diseases and contaminated rivers with mercury. - In this interview, Kopenawa criticizes the environmental and social impacts of administrations led by politicians such as Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump.

  • Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon

    - Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory in Brazil cover an area larger than Belgium.- The Indigenous territories are still largely covered in primary forest, and a haven for wildlife in a region considered an agricultural powerhouse.- Satellite data show Xingu Indigenous Park lost 15% of its primary forest cover, and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory lost 8.3% of its forest cover, between 2002 and 2023.- Indigenous groups fear proposed transportation projects will bring a fresh wave of deforestation and open up their territories to invaders.

  • The illegal runways exposing the Kakataibo people to drug violence in Peru

    - Mongabay Latam has identified six secret runways in and around Indigenous reserves in the regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco in the Peruvian Amazon. One was found inside the Kakataibo reserve and one in its surroundings.- These findings came from an algorithm created with artificial intelligence, which was jointly developed by Mongabay Latam and Earth Genome. It uses satellite images to detect traces of runways hidden in forests.- Official and local sources confirmed that the runways are used to unload drug shipments.- The territory has become extremely dangerous due to drug trafficking, which has changed the social dynamic of some Indigenous communities. Since the pandemic in 2020, six Kakataibo leaders have been murdered for protecting their communities.

  • Brazil plans new reserves to curb deforestation near contested Amazon roads

    - Unallocated public areas account for 28% of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, and the destruction of these lands keeps rising even as rates plummet across other parts of the rainforest.- To tackle the problem, Brazil’s federal government plans to convert lands around controversial Amazonian highways into protected areas.- One of the priority areas is along the BR-319 highway, where experts warn deforestation may increase fourfold under another government plan to pave the highway.- Despite the advances in comparison with former President Jair Bolsonaro, Indigenous and land reform movements are unhappy with the pace of land designation under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

  • Researchers find high levels of mercury in Amazon’s Madeira River water & fish

    - In a groundbreaking expedition, researchers from Harvard and Amazonas State University began monitoring water quality and mercury contamination in the Amazon Basin’s largest tributary.- The Madeira River Basin has been heavily impacted by human actions, such as hydropower plants, deforestation and illegal gold mining, which degrade its ecosystems.- Initial results from Harvard reveal high levels of mercury in the Madeira, although still below the limit recommended by Brazil’s authorities.- Predatory fish species showed mercury levels above the recommended limit, while scalefish traditionally consumed by riverine populations were below.

  • Reserve in Brazilian Amazon struggles as ‘aggressive’ deforestation spreads

    - Triunfo Do Xingu Environmental Protected Area was created to protect rich Amazonian forest and shield adjacent reserves.- But deforestation has been rampant within the reserve and is spreading to nearby areas- From 2006 to 2023, the reserve lost 41% of its primary forest cover.- Preliminary satellite data for 2024 from show deforestation picking up even further, and spreading into nearby areas including Terra do Meio Ecological Station and Serra do Pardo National Park

  • Brazil beef industry still struggling with deforestation from indirect suppliers, survey finds

    - Surveys of Brazil’s beef industry found there is still a serious lack of transparency throughout the supply chain, including from slaughterhouses and retailers. If better regulations aren’t implemented, they could be exposed to 109 million hectares (270 million acres) of deforestation by 2025.- The survey was conducted by Radar Verde, a cattle monitoring initiative made up of several climate groups. It reviewed the regulations and exposure to deforestation of dozens of companies in Brazil.- Indirect suppliers of beef are the most difficult to track, the survey found, with none of the 132 companies or 67 retailers competently able to demonstrate whether cattle had been raised on illegally deforested land.- Struggles to monitor indirect suppliers could pose a challenge for companies trying to meet the EU deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR), which will require suppliers to prove beef and other commodities exported to the EU aren’t sourced to illegally deforested land.