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Between 1985 and 2022, Brazil experienced a significant reduction in its natural forests, according to data published by MapBiomas, a network of non-profit organizations, universities, and private entities.
MapBiomas published new research that shows human activity and climate change have reduced the natural forests of that country in 38 years, between 1985 and 2022.
The organization’s satellite monitoring of Brazilian territory during this period revealed that the area of natural forests decreased from 581.6 million hectares to 494.1 million hectares, a reduction of 15%.
The last five years were particularly critical, accounting for 11% of the total 87.6 million hectares lost. Over 75 million of these hectares were located on private properties.
The mapping covered various types of cover including forest formations, savannahs, flooded forests, mangroves, and sandbanks, which together occupy 58% of the national territory.
In 2022, the Amazon (78%) and Caatinga (54%) had the highest proportion of natural forests among all biomes. The states with the highest proportion of forest are Amazonas (93%), Acre (85%), and Amapá (82%). Amazonas also has the largest forest area with 145 million hectares, followed by Pará (93 million hectares) and Mato Grosso (47 million hectares). However, Mato Grosso and Pará also lead in terms of forest loss.
Why were the hectares of forest lost?
Activities such as agriculture can explain one of the reasons why this has happened, as MapBiomas states that almost all of the conversion of natural forests was carried out for that activity.
“Forests are important not only to maintain climate balance, but also to protect ecosystem services vital to society and its economy. The continued loss of forests poses a direct threat to biodiversity, water quality, food security and climate regulation,” said Julia Shimbo, Scientific Coordinator of MapBiomas, in a statement issued this October 20.
MapBiomas also began to monitor floodplain forests, a new category, in the Amazon starting in 2023. These formations establish along watercourses, occupying plains that experience periodic or permanent flooding.
According to Luis Oliveira Jr., a researcher on MapBiomas's Amazonas team, these forests' importance lies in the fact that they deliver several essential ecosystem services, house unique biodiversity, function as carbon sinks, and control the hydrological cycle and the flow of rivers. In addition, floodplain forests support aquatic habitats and supply natural resources for local communities.
"However, human activities like deforestation, mining, infrastructure construction, climate change, fires, unsustainable logging, and water pollution pose serious threats to these ecosystems," said Oliveira.
"Maintaining the integrity of these unique ecosystems in the Amazon region requires us to protect and manage these areas sustainably for the preservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem services," Oliveira continued.
Oliveira's statements followed MapBiomas' recent report showing a loss of 430 thousand hectares of floodplain forests in the Amazon between 1985 and 2022.
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