Amazon rainforest lost area the size of Spain since 1985, data shows

Brazil's Amazon rainforest has shrunk by an area the size of Spain over four decades and is approaching a dangerous tipping point, according to data released today by the MapBiomas monitoring platform. Photo / Pablo Porciuncula, AFP

Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has shrunk by an area as big as Spain over four decades and is nearing a dangerous tipping point, according to monitoring data released today.

The Amazon was approaching a “point of no return” of 20 to 25% vegetation loss at which it “ceases to sustain itself as a rainforest”, said Bruno Ferreira, a researcher at the MapBiomas monitoring platform.

“When too much vegetation is lost, the rain cycle is disrupted, and large areas tend to transform into drier savannas.”

Brazil, which will host the United Nations Cop30 climate conference in the Amazonian city of Belem in November, is home to 60% of the rainforest which spans nine countries.

Satellite images studied by MapBiomas showed the loss of 49.1 million ha of rainforest between 1985 and 2024.

If other types of plant life are included, the Amazon has lost 13% of its native vegetation in that time, the data showed.

MapBiomas said that livestock farming had increased almost fivefold in the period studied.

Deforestation had slowed after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023.

However, a historic drought fuelled forest fires in the region, leading to a 4% increase in deforestation between August 2024 and July 2025.

-Agence France-Presse