Brazil Reports 11% Drop in Amazon Deforestation, Lowest in 11 Years, as COP30 Nears

Overview

• Official INPE Prodes data show Amazon forest loss at 5,796 km² for Aug 2024–Jul 2025, the fourth straight annual decline and the lowest total since 2014.
• Deforestation in the Cerrado also fell about 11% to 7,235 km², with destruction concentrated in the Matopiba frontier region.
• Eight of nine states in the Amazônia Legal recorded declines; Mato Grosso was the exception with an increase of roughly 25%, while Pará, Mato Grosso and Amazonas accounted for most of the loss.
• Officials and researchers note a shift toward fire-driven degradation, now about 38% of the Amazon’s lost area, after a 2024 season of exceptional fires and drought; MapBiomas reports far fewer burned hectares in Jan–Sep 2025 versus 2024.
• Brazil highlights strengthened enforcement and a zero-deforestation-by-2030 goal as it prepares to present the Tropical Forests Forever Fund at COP30 following the Bogotá Declaration.