Plateau that feeds Brazil’s pantanal loses 6.7M hectares of vegetation
The Upper Paraguay Basin (BAP) plateau, where the rivers that feed Brazil’s pantanal originate, lost 6.7 million hectares of native vegetation from 1987 to 2025. There was also a reduction of 2.89 million hectares in the basin’s water surface area from 1985 to 2025. The plateau consists of areas of the cerrado and the Amazon biomes, covers 21 million hectares, and surrounds the lowland that…
The Upper Paraguay Basin plateau, which supplies rivers to Brazil's Pantanal, has lost 6.7 million hectares of native vegetation between 1987 and 2025. Additionally, water surface area within the basin decreased by 2.89 million hectares during the same period. The plateau, comprising parts of the cerrado and Amazon biomes, spans 21 million hectares and encircles the Pantanal's lowland region.
According to MapBiomas' annual land cover and land use maps, the Pantanal's average flooded area shrank by 53 percent, from 5.99 million to 2.79 million hectares, between 1985 and 2025. This decline resulted from the destruction of vegetation in the BAP region. The duration of floods has also changed; in 1988, 3.8 million hectares were flooded for 6 to 12 months, whereas in 2025, 820,000 hectares experienced flooding for six months or more.
In 2024, the Pantanal experienced its smallest flooded area since monitoring commenced – 937,000 hectares. Rainfall in the plateau is the highest in the Upper Paraguay Basin, but from 2019 to 2025, it was below average for seven consecutive years, with the lowest recorded in 2024 at 1,050 millimeters, compared to an average of 1,469 millimeters.
The proportion of natural areas covering the basin's territory decreased from 85 percent in 1985 to 60 percent in 2025. Agricultural land expanded by 1.49 million hectares, while pastures grew by 6.9 million hectares. As of 2025, 84 percent of the basin's agriculture and livestock area was located on the plateau. Throughout the entire period, 94 percent of native vegetation loss occurred in savanna (55%) and forest (39%) formations.
Agriculture expanded by 304 percent from 1985 to 2025, with 37 percent of the agricultural area in 2025 established on native vegetation cleared during that time. The clearing of native vegetation, previously concentrated along the Pantanal's edges, now extends deeper within the biome. From 2017 to 2025, 446,000 hectares were cleared, with 48 percent of these areas being grasslands.
Fires affected 61 percent of the Pantanal's territory at least once between 1985 and 2025, equivalent to 9 million hectares, which is the highest proportion among Brazilian biomes for the entire period. Fire impacted 52 percent of the Pantanal, occurring three times or more in 52 percent of the area. The peak of fire activity coincided with the dry season's high point, particularly in August, September, and October.
From 2016 to 2025, forest fires accounted for approximately 210,000 hectares annually, five times the historical average of 41,000 hectares.
Written by urgent.news from Agencia Brasil's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
