Key facts
- Brazil's Amazon rainforest experienced a sharp decline in burned area in 2025, with 3.1 million hectares affected.
- This figure represents the smallest burned area in the Amazon since MapBiomas began recording in 1985.
- The previous year, 2024, saw a record 15.8 million hectares burned in the Amazon.
- Across all of Brazil, 12.7 million hectares burned in 2025, compared to 30 million in 2024.
- The reduction is partly due to La Niña conditions, contrasting with the El Niño of 2024.
The area burned in Brazil's Amazon rainforest in 2025 saw a dramatic decrease, with 3.1 million hectares affected compared to a record 15.8 million hectares in 2024, according to a report by the deforestation monitoring group MapBiomas. This figure represents the smallest burned area in the Amazon since MapBiomas records began in 1985.
Across the entirety of Brazil, approximately 12.7 million hectares burned in 2025, a substantial drop from 30 million hectares in the previous year. The highest recorded burned area for Brazil was in 2007, with 30.7 million hectares.
Vera Arruda, a researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and co-ordinator at MapBiomas, stated that the 31% drop compared to the historical average is positive news, driven by the lowest number of fires in the Amazon in 41 years. However, she cautioned that it is too early to conclude this is an established trend and prevention efforts should not be scaled back.
The decline in burned areas is partly attributed to the easing of extreme weather conditions, with cooler La Niña conditions replacing the warmer El Niño that contributed to the unprecedented fires of 2024. MapBiomas warned, however, that the El Niño pattern could extend the current dry season and increase the risk of forest fires.
Protecting the Amazon was a key pledge of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who aims to reverse deforestation. His predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had been criticized for allowing deforestation to accelerate. Despite Lula's commitment, his decision to approve oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon river has faced criticism from activists.