Most Brazilian states lost native vegetation
Over the past 41 years, native vegetation has been reduced to cover 65 percent of Brazil’s territory , according to Collection 11 of MapBiomas’ annual land cover and land use maps, released this Wednesday (Aug. 12). Over the course of these four decades, areas where forests remained intact were less affected by the El Niño phenomenon - the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean’s surface that…
The latest data from MapBiomas reveals that native vegetation in Brazil has been declining for four decades, now covering only 65 percent of the country's territory. This reduction has been particularly severe during El Niño years, when intense droughts and below-average rainfall have disproportionately impacted most Brazilian biomes.
The Amazon, which lost 53.9 million hectares of native vegetation, was the most affected biome, with agricultural areas experiencing the most significant precipitation decline - 178 millimeters less than the historical average. The Pantanal also suffered severely during the 2023/2024 El Niño event, becoming the driest year on record for the biome.
While other biomes, such as the Pampa, saw some increases in precipitation, agricultural areas there were also heavily impacted by extreme weather events associated with El Niño. The study found that, between 1985 and 2025, 25 of Brazil's 27 states experienced a reduction in native vegetation, with Rondônia, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, and Tocantins seeing the most significant losses relative to their total land area.
Wetland areas, mapped for the first time, were found in the Pampa biome alone, with 6,900 hectares of these salt marshes located in Rio Grande do Sul.
Written by urgent.news from Agencia Brasil's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
