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State Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
By Rhett A Butler
Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of
forest—an area larger than Greece—and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. Why is Brazil losing so much forest? What can be done to slow deforestation?
Amazon deforestation by state in Brazil, 1988-2005
| State | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Acre | 620 | 540 | 550 | 380 | 400 | 482 | 482 | 1208 | 433 | 358 | 536 | 441 | 547 | 419 | 730 | 885 | 769 | 541 |
| Amapá | 60 | 130 | 250 | 410 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 25 | 46 | 33 |
| Amazonas | 1510 | 1180 | 520 | 980 | 799 | 370 | 370 | 2114 | 1023 | 589 | 670 | 720 | 612 | 634 | 881 | 1632 | 1221 | 752 |
| Maranhão | 2450 | 1420 | 1100 | 670 | 1135 | 372 | 372 | 1745 | 1061 | 409 | 1012 | 1230 | 1065 | 958 | 1014 | 993 | 755 | 922 |
| Mato Grosso | 5140 | 5960 | 4020 | 2840 | 4674 | 6220 | 6220 | 10391 | 6543 | 5271 | 6466 | 6963 | 6369 | 7703 | 7892 | 10405 | 11814 | 7145 |
| Pará | 6990 | 5750 | 4890 | 3780 | 3787 | 4284 | 4284 | 7845 | 6135 | 4139 | 5829 | 5111 | 6671 | 5237 | 7324 | 6996 | 8521 | 5763 |
| Rondônia | 2340 | 1430 | 1670 | 1110 | 2265 | 2595 | 2595 | 4730 | 2432 | 1986 | 2041 | 2358 | 2465 | 2673 | 3067 | 3620 | 3834 | 3233 |
| Roraima | 290 | 630 | 150 | 420 | 281 | 240 | 240 | 220 | 214 | 184 | 223 | 220 | 253 | 345 | 84 | 439 | 311 | 133 |
| Tocantins | 1650 | 730 | 580 | 440 | 409 | 333 | 333 | 797 | 320 | 273 | 576 | 216 | 244 | 189 | 212 | 156 | 158 | 271 |
| Amazônia Legal | 21050 | 17770 | 13730 | 11030 | 13786 | 14896 | 14896 | 29059 | 18161 | 13227 | 17383 | 17259 | 18226 | 18165 | 21205 | 25151 | 27429 | 18793 |
Share of Amazon deforestation by state in Brazil, 1988-2005
| State | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Acre | 2.9% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 3.4% | 2.9% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 4.2% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 3.1% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 2.3% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 2.8% | 2.9% |
| Amapá | 0.3% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 3.7% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Amazonas | 7.2% | 6.6% | 3.8% | 8.9% | 5.8% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 7.3% | 5.6% | 4.5% | 3.9% | 4.2% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 4.2% | 6.5% | 4.5% | 4.0% |
| Maranhão | 11.6% | 8.0% | 8.0% | 6.1% | 8.2% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 6.0% | 5.8% | 3.1% | 5.8% | 7.1% | 5.8% | 5.3% | 4.8% | 3.9% | 2.8% | 4.9% |
| Mato Grosso | 24.4% | 33.5% | 29.3% | 25.7% | 33.9% | 41.8% | 41.8% | 35.8% | 36.0% | 39.9% | 37.2% | 40.3% | 34.9% | 42.4% | 37.2% | 41.4% | 43.1% | 38.0% |
| Pará | 33.2% | 32.4% | 35.6% | 34.3% | 27.5% | 28.8% | 28.8% | 27.0% | 33.8% | 31.3% | 33.5% | 29.6% | 36.6% | 28.8% | 34.5% | 27.8% | 31.1% | 30.7% |
| Rondônia | 11.1% | 8.0% | 12.2% | 10.1% | 16.4% | 17.4% | 17.4% | 16.3% | 13.4% | 15.0% | 11.7% | 13.7% | 13.5% | 14.7% | 14.5% | 14.4% | 14.0% | 17.2% |
| Roraima | 1.4% | 3.5% | 1.1% | 3.8% | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 0.4% | 1.7% | 1.1% | 0.7% |
| Tocantins | 7.8% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 4.0% | 3.0% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 2.7% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 3.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 1.4% |
| Amazônia Legal | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Charts and Graphs showing Amazon deforestation on a state by state basis
Deforestation in Amazônia Legal State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Amazônia Legal State, Brazil, 1988-2005
measured stated-by-state by percent share of total forest loss
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Deforestation in Amazônia Legal State, Brazil, 1988-2005
Stated-by-state contribution to total forest loss
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Deforestation in Acre State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Amapá State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Amazonas State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Maranhão State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Mato Grosso State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Pará State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Rondônia State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Roraima State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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Deforestation in Tocantins State, Brazil, 1988-2005
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News on Brazil
Judge suspends Amazon dam project due to legal questions
(4/30/2008) A Brazilian judge has issued a restraining order on a controversial dam in the Amazon basin, reports International Rivers, a conservation group.
Photos of newly discovered species in Brazil's Cerrado
(4/29/2008) An expedition to Brazil's Cerrado has turned up more than a dozen undiscovered species. Conservationists say the discoveries add urgency to protecting the grassland habitat which is rapidly being converted for agriculture.
No sacrifices to ending deforestation in the Amazon, only gains
(4/29/2008) Regular columnist and co-creator of Brazil's environmental news website, O Eco, Sergio Abranches has great credibility in Brazil's eco-awakening. A professor of political science, Abranches uses his unique talents to reach a widening audience in Brazil for environmental, energy, and climate change news and discussion. He speaks expertly on any number of topics: from Amazonian deforestation to the current food crises to economic and political transformations for a warming world.
'Soy King' says Amazon deforestation could help solve global food crisis
(4/28/2008) Clearing the Amazon rainforest for soy farms will help address the global food crisis, said Blairo Maggi, the governor of Brazil's chief soy-producing state, according to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.
Brazil prepares to launch attack on NGOs working in the Amazon
(4/27/2008) Brazil is planning a crackdown on foreign NGOs working in the Amazon rainforest, reports Reuters. Tourists may also be required to inform officials of their travel plans in the region under the newly proposed rule.
A billion trees to be planted in Brazil's Atlantic Forest over the next 7 years
(4/22/2008) A billion trees to be planted in the Atlantic Forest over the next seven years. The Nature Conservancy has begun a program to plant a billion trees in Brazil's dwindled Atlantic Forest. The Atlantic Forest used to cover Brazil's long coast, but today only seven percent of the forest remains. Both the megacities of Sao Paulo (the world's fifth largest city) and Rio de Janeiro have emerged and grown in what used to be tropical forest. Yet, the forest remaining retains an incredible bio-diversity much of it endemic.
Amazon soy ban seems to be effective in reducing explicit deforestation
(4/3/2008) An industry-led ban on soy production in the Amazon appears to be proving effective at reducing new clearing for explicit soy production, according to a survey published Monday by Greenpeace and the Brazilian Vegetable Oils Industry Association. The moratorium, which was signed by some of the largest soy crushers in the Amazon in response to a campaign by environmental group Greenpeace, went into effect in October 2006. While soy is believed to be having an indirect impact on deforestation by driving up land prices and competing with the dominant form of land use in the Amazon — cattle ranching — the news is a hopeful sign for conservationists.
Land invasions undermine Amazon forest law
(4/3/2008) Land invasions are undermining a Brazilian law that requires ranchers to keep 80 percent of their land forested, according to reports from the Amazon state of Mato Grosso. A run up in land prices, driven by surging soy and cattle production in the region, combined with a lackadaisical response from law enforcement authorities are blamed for the incursions.
Railroad could reduce Amazon deforestation relative to proposed highway
(3/24/2008) Building a railroad instead of improving a major highway could reduce deforestation and biodiversity loss in the heart of the Amazon rainforest says an Brazilian environmental group.
Markets could save forests: An interview with Dr. Tom Lovejoy
(3/20/2008) Market mechanisms are increasingly seen as a way to address environmental problems, including tropical deforestation. In particular, compensation for ecosystem services like carbon sequestration — a concept known by the acronym REDD for "reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation" — may someday make conservation a profitable enterprise in which carbon traders are effectively saving rainforests simply by their pursuit of profit. Protecting rainforests and their resident biodiversity would be an unintentional, but happy byproduct of profit-seeking endeavors.
Predator of the world's largest macaw key to its survival
(3/13/2008) In a bizarre biological twist, a new study shows that the Hyacinth Macaw depends on its greatest predator, the Toco Toucan, for continued survival.
Industry-driven road-building to fuel Amazon deforestation
(3/12/2008) Unofficial road-building will be a major driver of deforestation and land-use change in the Amazon rainforest, according to an analysis published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Improved governance, as exemplified by the innovative MAP Initiative in the southwestern Amazon, could help reduce the future impact of roads, without diminishing economic prospects in the region.
Deforestation causes snake invasion in the Amazon
(3/11/2008) An official with Brazil's environmental protection agency Ibama claims that snakes are invading the city of Belem due to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Cellulosic energy may trigger dramatic collapse in the Amazon
(3/11/2008) Next generation biofuels may trigger the ecological collapse of the Amazon frontier and could have profoundly unexpected economic consequences for the region, warns a paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Dr. Donald Sawyer writes that "interacting with climate change and land use, the upcoming stage of cellulosic energy could result in a collapse of the new frontier into vast degraded pasture." The shift could increase the incidence and severity of fires, reduce rainfall in key agricultural zones, exacerbate forest die-back and climate change, and worsen social instability. Sawyer says that while difficult to anticipate, the worst outcomes could likely be avoided be promoting "intensified and more sustainable use" of already cleared areas, minimizing new deforestation, and encouraging "sustainable use of natural resources by local communities."
Emissions from deforestation offset by increased tree growth in the Amazon
(3/10/2008) An increase in carbon sequestration by trees in the Amazon has roughly offset total emissions from deforestation in the region since the 1980s. A new study, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, this trend may slow in the future, causing the world's largest rainforest to become a net source of carbon emissions and therefore contributing to climate change.
Brazil fails to implement deforestation plan - Amazon destruction jumps
(3/6/2008) Faced with a spike in forest clearing due to high commodity prices, the Brazilian government has failed to enact reforms designed to slow deforestation in the Amazon rainforest says Greenpeace, an environmental group.
Human impacts on primate conservation in central Amazonia
(3/3/2008) Deforestation in the Amazon is a serious concern. In the Brazilian Amazon, forests are cleared for cattle ranches, soybean cultivation, and selective logging practices. A new plan to settle approximately 180 families north of Manaus, the capital city of the state of Amazonas, has created widespread controversy. The land plots would be located within the study site of the longest-running study of forest fragmentation, the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP). Therefore, the plan would threaten scientific research at the BDFFP and other nearby research sites operated by the Instituto Nacional da Pesquisas de Amazônia (INPA) and Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), as well as the future of the Central Amazonian Conservation Corridor.
Small fires a big threat to Amazon rainforest biodiversity
(2/27/2008) Small fires have a big impact in the Amazon rainforest, report researchers writing in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. The findings suggest a dire future for Earth's largest rainforest.
Half the Amazon rainforest will be lost within 20 years
(2/27/2008) More than half the Amazon rainforest will be damaged or destroyed within 20 years if deforestation, forest fires, and climate trends continue apace, warns a study published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Reviewing recent trends in economic, ecological and climatic processes in Amazonia, Daniel Nepstad and colleagues forecast that 55 percent of Amazon forests will be "cleared, logged, damaged by drought, or burned" in the next 20 years. The damage will release 15-26 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere, adding to a feedback cycle that will worsen both warming and forest degradation in the region. While the projections are bleak, the authors are hopeful that emerging trends could reduce the likelihood of a near-term die-back. These include the growing concern in commodity markets on the environmental performance of ranchers and farmers; greater investment in fire control mechanisms among owners of fire-sensitive investments; emergence of a carbon market for forest-based offsets; and the establishment of protected areas in regions where development is fast-expanding.
Greenhouse gas emissions have already caused the Amazon to dry
(2/27/2008) Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases have already caused the Amazon to dry, finds a new study published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
THE AMAZON RAINFOREST
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