RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has lost an area equivalent to Spain’s size over the past four decades according to new monitoring data released on Monday.
The rainforest is approaching a dangerous tipping point where 20 to 25 percent vegetation loss would cause it to cease sustaining itself as a rainforest according to researcher Bruno Ferreira from the MapBiomas monitoring platform.
“When too much vegetation is lost, the rain cycle is disrupted, and large areas tend to transform into drier savannas,“ Ferreira explained.
Brazil hosts 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest which spans across nine South American countries.
The country will host the United Nations COP30 climate conference in the Amazonian city of Belem this November.
Satellite imagery analysis by MapBiomas revealed the loss of 49.1 million hectares of rainforest between 1985 and 2024.
Including other vegetation types, the Amazon has lost 13 percent of its native plant life during this period.
Livestock farming expanded nearly fivefold throughout the studied timeframe according to MapBiomas.
Deforestation rates decreased after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva resumed office in 2023.
However, a historic drought triggered widespread forest fires causing a four percent deforestation increase between August 2024 and July 2025. – AFP
