Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon down by 49 percent, but degradation up 323 percent

(Imazon) – SAD detected 99 square kilometers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in November 2015. That represented a 49% reduction in relation to November 2014 when deforestation totaled 195 square kilometers. It was possible to monitor 80% of the forest area in the Brazilian Amazon, while in November 2014 monitoring covered a smaller area (67%) of the territory. In November 2015, deforestation was concentrated in Mato Grosso (33%), Pará (24%), Rondônia (19%) and Amazonas (19%), with a lower occurrence in Roraima (2%) and Acre (2%). Degraded forests in the Brazilian Amazon totaled 362 square kilometers in November 2015. In relation to November 2014 when forest degradation totaled 86 square kilometers, there was a 323% increase.

Deforestation Statistics

According to SAD, deforestation (total suppression of the forest for other alternative land uses) reached 99 square kilometers in November 2015 (Figure 1 and Figure 2). In November 2015, deforestation was concentrated in Mato Grosso (33%), Pará (24%), Rondônia (19%) and Amazonas (19%), with a lower occurrence in Roraima (2%) and Acre (2%) (Figure 3). The deforestation accumulated during the period from August to November 2015, corresponding to the first four months of the official calendar for measuring deforestation, affected 972 square kilometers. There was a 24% reduction in deforestation in relation to the previous period (August 2014 to November 2014) when it reached 1,278 square kilometers.

Forest Degradation

In November 2015, SAD recorded 362 square kilometers of degraded forests (forests intensely exploited by timber activity and/or burned) (Figures 2 and 4). Of that total, the majority (49%) occurred in Mato Grosso, followed by Pará (37%) and with lower occurrence in Amazonas (7%) and Rondônia (6%). [more]

Deforestation report for the Brazilian Amazon (November 2015) SAD