Amazon saw forest loss equivalent to 425 football pitches in February

By Ana Pastana – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – The Legal Amazon recorded an increase in deforestation of 119 square kilometres (km²) in February this year, an area equivalent to 425 football pitches. This is according to data released by the deforestation calendar, published on Thursday, the 27th, by the Deforestation Alert System (SAD) of Imazon.

The most affected states are Roraima (37%), Mato Grosso (34%), and Pará (11%), which together account for 82% of all destruction detected in the Legal Amazon in February 2025. Indicators show that this figure represents a 2% increase compared to the same period last year, marking the fifth-largest devastated area in the historical series for the month. Additionally, five of the ten municipalities with the highest deforestation rates are in Mato Grosso, four in Roraima, and one in Amazonas.

The data raises concerns regarding measures and monitoring efforts to curb the advance of deforestation before the arrival of the dry months, usually recorded in early May or June.

“It wouldn’t be good for Brazil to close this calendar with rising figures in such a crucial year as COP30. The government and regulatory bodies need to act now to reverse this trend and show the world a real commitment to preserving the Amazon,” says Carlos Souza Jr., coordinator of Imazon’s Amazon Monitoring Programme.

The Amazon also saw an increase in forest degradation caused by fires and logging, affecting 33,807 km². This figure is nearly equivalent to the territory of Porto Velho, the largest capital city in Brazil, and six times higher than the previous period, when the activity accounted for 5,805 km².

In February alone, degradation impacted 211 km² of the Amazon, representing an increase of approximately 15 times compared to the same period in 2024. This is the highest figure recorded for the month in the historical series. Among the states, Pará and Maranhão stood out, accounting for 89% of the impact for the month, with 75% occurring in Pará and 14% in Maranhão. The most affected municipalities are also located in these states, with seven in Pará and two in Maranhão.

For researcher Lucas Ferrante, from the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam), degraded areas do not regenerate or recover. Ferrante also emphasises that each region has a different cause of devastation.

“Biodiversity, once lost, loses fundamental ecosystem services. Now we have been monitoring the causes of this deforestation because, in each place, there is a specific cause. Fires are increasing because people are avoiding direct deforestation and instead setting fire to areas, as it is harder to be held accountable for. This increase in deforestation is extremely concerning; it’s something the Amazon is not absorbing,” he points out.

The researcher also states that the Amazonian capital faces the risk of extinction in the coming years due to climate events affecting Manaus.

“We already have the climate crisis impacting Manaus on an unmanageable scale, right?! Increased floods, landslides—this will only worsen for Manaus. Manaus is at risk of becoming extinct in the coming years due to catastrophic climate events, and that’s an important point to make—lethal heatwaves that could wipe out the city. And this is related to deforestation. Brazil is the world’s fourth-largest carbon emitter due to deforestation, and we’re not even accounting for fires. That means Brazil needs to take measures to reduce these climate events,” he said.

In February 2025, SAD detected 119 square kilometres of deforestation in the Legal Amazon, a 2% increase compared to February 2024, when deforestation totalled 117 square kilometres. The deforestation detected in February 2025 occurred in Roraima (37%), Mato Grosso (34%), Pará (11%), Amazonas (7%), Rondônia (3%), Maranhão (3%), Tocantins (3%), and Acre (2%).

Edited by Marcela Leiros
Reviewed by Gustavo Gilona
Translated from Portuguese by Gustô Alves