Brazil recorded a significant drop in deforestation in all biomes in 2024 marking a historical advance in environmental preservation. According to the annual report of Mapbiomas, a network of researchers who monitors vegetation coverage of the country via satellite, the total deforested area retreated about 30% over the previous year.
This is the first time in six years that all Brazilian biomes have simultaneous reduction in the destruction of their green areas. The Pantanal led positive statistics with an impressive fall of almost 60% in deforestation.
In addition to the Pantanal, other biomes also had significant reductions: Pampa and Cerrado registered a 40%drop, the almost 17%Amazon and the 13%caatinga. The Atlantic Forest was the only biome to have a slight increase of 2%, considered stable by the researchers.
Factors that contributed to the reduction
Experts point to three main factors for this improvement:
1. The expansion of the deforestation plan, originally focused on the Amazon, for all Brazilian biomes between 2023 and 2024.
2. The significant increase in inspection actions, both at the federal and state level. The percentage of deforested areas that receive inspection jumped from 5% in 2018-2019 to more than 50% today.
3. The change of attitude of the financial system, with banks increasingly using deforestation data as a criterion for granting rural credit, aiming to eliminate the financing of activities related to illegal deforestation.
Despite the advances, the numbers are still worrying. More than one million hectares were deforested in 2024, with the Cerrado being the most affected biome, accounting for more than 60% of the entire area destroyed in the country.
Tasso Azevedo, general coordinator Mapbiomas, emphasizes the importance of not only curbing deforestation, but also controlling forest degradation processes. “You often have fire degradation that does not result in deforestation. The forest is still there, but very impacted. It is also necessary to have room to regenerate the forest. This is important for the forest to continue to fulfill its various functions. The forest, especially in the Amazon, has this role of irrigation and providing a hydrological cycle that allows us to produce renewable energy in large quantities and have a healthy life.”
This content was originally published in inspection helps brake deforestation in Brazil on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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