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 |
- ‘Indigenous women in the Amazon must be empowered’: Interview with Nemonte Nenquimo
- The new book Seremos Jaguares (We Will Be Jaguars) by Indigenous leader Nemonte Nenquimo is the memoir of a woman who fought against large oil companies to preserve her people’s land and thousands of hectares of Amazon rainforest.- The book, written with her husband and executive director of the organization Amazon Frontlines, Mitch Anderson, is a story of hope and resistance from the Amazon in the fight against climate change and the protection of nature.- In this interview, Mongabay speaks with Nemonte Nenquimo about her work to defend the Amazon and what her new book symbolizes for Indigenous women around the world.
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Across the Amazon, archaeological remains indicate that the human presence in the rainforest is much older, larger and more widespread than previously thought.- Researchers in Brazil are lobbying to register archaeological sites as national monuments, which would confer a new layer of protection status to parts of the rainforest.- Earthen mounds known as geoglyphs, for instance, have been revealed to stretch from Acre state north into neighboring Amazonas; formally recognizing them under Brazil’s heritage law could protect this vast swath of rainforest.- “Today we know it’s highly likely that part of the forest has been changed by people,” said Dutch biologist Hans ter Steege, co-author of research that has shown there may be up to 24,000 earthworks hidden throughout the rainforest that could qualify for protection.
- EU considers postponing anti-deforestation law as pressure from agribusiness mounts
- The EU parliament and council is considering a 12-month delay to its deforestation-free products regulation, which will require exporters to prove that beef, soy, rubber and other harmful commodities aren’t sourced to deforested land.- The law was supposed to go into effect January 1, 2025, but faced mounting pressure from exporting countries and the industrial agricultural sector.- The 12-month delay could result in around 2,300 square kilometers (888 square miles) of deforestation and 49 megatons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to EU studies.
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
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- The Amazon is ablaze again. What it means for us (commentary)
- The Amazon rainforest, devastated by over 70,000 wildfires in 2019, is once again ablaze, threatening even greater destruction of wildlife, human health, and ecosystems.- Climate change is now a tangible global threat, with rising sea levels and extreme heat affecting entire regions, while indigenous communities, like the Kogi in Colombia, have long warned of these environmental dangers, argues Mark J. Plotkin, an ethnobotanist who co-founded the Amazon Conservation Team.- The Amazon, which stores one-fifth of the world’s terrestrial carbon, plays a crucial role in regulating global climate, but continued deforestation risks releasing this carbon and disrupting weather patterns far beyond the region.- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.
- Brazil’s race to approve the end of the Amazon: The BR-319 highway needs a new environmental impact assessment (commentary)
- Brazil’s race to approve “reconstruction” of Highway BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) is gaining ever more momentum, with President Lula declaring his support for the project on the 10th September, a moment that could not be more ironic amid the country’s dramatic fire crisis, argues researcher Philip M. Fearnside in this commentary.- The impact of BR-319 extends far beyond the roadside strip to which the EIA and licensing discussion is limited. Planned side roads such as AM-366 would open the vast rainforest area west of the highway to the entry of deforesters, loggers and others. The rainforest in this area is also at risk of collapse from climate change, and this risk would be further increased by the deforestation and forest degradation provoked by the planned roads linked to BR-319. Loss of this forest would be catastrophic both for global climate and for water supply to other parts of Brazil, including São Paulo.- The area at risk is both the most critical and the easiest to avoid deforesting. All that needs to be done is to not build the highways that would provide access, while in other parts of Amazonia stopping deforestation requires changing the behavior of hundreds of thousands of individual actors. A new EIA is needed that includes all areas receiving impacts from BR-319 in the northern and western parts of Brazilian Amazonia. The EIA cannot be a mere bureaucratic step after which the project is automatically approved – the rational decision is to reject the project, writes Fearnside.- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
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- Brazil’s BR-319 highway disaster: Yet another maneuver (commentary)
- Brazil’s “reconstruction” project for the BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) highway and associated side roads would open vast areas of Amazon forest to the entry of deforesters and loggers, writes Philip M. Fearnside in this commentary.- A “preliminary license” for the project that was granted in 2022 by the anti-environmental Bolsonaro presidential administration was suspended in July 2024 by judicial order but is being appealed by the highway department.- The highway department has submitted to the courts a consultant report it contracted claiming that the highway project is “environmentally viable” and the department’s press release claiming this as “proof” of viability is being touted by pro-BR-319 media and politicians. The highway project continues as a major threat to the Amazon forest, and pressure is mounting to force its approval, writes Fearnside.- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.
- Report exposes meatpackers’ role in recent chemical deforestation in Brazil
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- How the Brazilian military sabotaged protection of Indigenous people in the Amazon
- The Brazilian military has been involved in a series of controversial episodes that have undermined emergency efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory.- Reports show it failed (or sabotaged) airspace control and food deliveries to the Indigenous people, who suffer from malnutrition as a result of mercury contamination from illegal mining.- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has spent millions trying to evict the illegal miners and provide care to the Yanomami, but some 7,000 miners remain in the territory, while malnutrition, malaria and other diseases continue to afflict the Yanomami.- Experts blame the military’s inaction of action against the illegal miners on a colonial ideology that was prevalent under Brazil’s former military dictatorship, and which was revived under the administration of Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.