MapBiomas: Amazon Water Surfaces Rebound in 2025 While Pantanal Remains Deeply Depleted

Overview

• MapBiomas released its 1985–2025 monthly satellite and AI dataset in mid‑June 2026 showing the Amazônia recovered in 2025 to 2.6% above its 1985–2025 average, with the largest state gains in Pará (+142,000 ha), Goiás (+91,000 ha) and Amazonas (+87,000 ha).
• Brazil’s total surface water rose to 18.2 million hectares in 2025, a 5.3% increase from 2024, but the figure remains below the long‑term mean of 18.5 million hectares and continues a multi‑decade downward trend since 1985.
• The Pantanal recorded just 679,000 hectares of surface water in 2025, 56% below its 1985–2025 mean and the only bioma with every month below its four‑decade average, with major municipal losses in Corumbá and Cáceres.
• Nearly half of Brazil’s municipalities (2,511, or 45%) had 2025 water surface below their historical averages, creating acute impacts for riverside communities and particular towns such as Barcelos, Amapá and Tartarugalzinho.
• The MapBiomas series shows a structural shift since 1985 with a 1.7 million hectare rise in anthropic water bodies and a 3.2 million hectare loss of natural waters, and researchers say the pattern points to lasting hydrological change driven by climate variability and land‑use decisions.