Amazon deforestation and forest degradation

Critical severity. Severe, persistent harm to health, ecosystems or livelihoods. Severity is descriptive editorial metadata summarising documented effects. It is not a measured index or a score.

1. 01

   Conversion to pasture and cropland

   Clearing for cattle ranching and, subsequently, crops is the dominant direct driver of forest loss.

2. 02

   Road access and land speculation

   New and improved roads open previously remote forest to occupation and speculative land claims.

3. 03

   Illegal logging and mining

   Unauthorised timber extraction and gold mining damage forest and watercourses.

4. 04

   Fire

   Fire used to clear land escapes into standing forest, which is not naturally fire-adapted.

1. 01

   Carbon emissions

   Clearing and burning release stored carbon and reduce the forest's capacity to absorb it.

2. 02

   Biodiversity loss

   The Amazon holds an exceptional concentration of species, many with restricted ranges, which are lost with their habitat.

3. 03

   Disrupted rainfall recycling

   The forest recycles moisture that sustains rainfall regionally and downwind; large-scale loss weakens that mechanism.

4. 04

   Impacts on Indigenous and local communities

   Forest loss, fire and mining affect territories, health, food systems and water quality of forest-dependent peoples.

1. Satellite monitoring and enforcement

   INPE's DETER alerts enable rapid enforcement action against illegal clearing.

   Expected effectEnforcement backed by near-real-time detection has historically coincided with sharp falls in clearing rates.

2. Protected areas and Indigenous territories

   Legally recognised protected and Indigenous lands consistently show lower deforestation than surrounding areas.

   Expected effectPreserves large contiguous forest and the communities that steward it.

3. Deforestation-free supply chains

   Traceability and market agreements for beef, soy and timber that exclude recently cleared land.

   Expected effectRemoves the market incentive for clearing where monitoring is credible.

4. Restoration and bioeconomy

   Restoring degraded land and supporting forest-based livelihoods that depend on standing forest.

   Expected effectRecovers ecosystem function over time and offers economic alternatives to clearing.

Monitoring system

PRODES / DETER

Brazil's INPE publishes annual (PRODES) and near-real-time (DETER) deforestation data for the Legal Amazon. Use the official dashboard for current annual figures.

Dominant direct driver

Conversion to pasture

Research consistently identifies cattle pasture as the largest single land use replacing cleared Amazon forest.

1. [1]PRODES and DETER Amazon deforestation monitoringInstituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazilterrabrasilis.dpi.inpe.br(opens in a new tab)
2. [2]Global Forest Review: AmazonWorld Resources Institute / Global Forest Watchglobalforestwatch.org(opens in a new tab)
3. [3]IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and LandIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change · Aug 2019ipcc.ch(opens in a new tab)

Links open the publishing organisation's site. Some point to the publisher's main page, where the named report or dataset can be found.