Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest

The Amazon rainforest, spanning an area of 3,000,000 km², is the world's largest rainforest. It encompasses the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest on the planet, representing over half of all rainforests. The Amazon region includes the territories of nine nations, with Brazil containing the majority, followed by Peru , Colombia, and smaller portions in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Over one-third of the Amazon rainforest is designated as formally acknowledged indigenous territory, amounting to more than 3,344 territories. Historically, indigenous Amazonian peoples have relied on the forest for various needs such as food, shelter, water, fiber, futon, and medicines. The forest holds significant cultural and cosmological importance for them.
Despite external pressures, deforestation rates are comparatively lower in indigenous territories due to legal land titling initiatives that have reduced deforestation by 75% in Peru. By the year 2022, around 26% of the forest was considered as deforested or highly degraded. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, 300,000 square miles have been lost.
Cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon has been identified as the primary cause of deforestation, accounting for about 80% of all deforestation in the region. This makes it the world's largest single driver of deforestation, contributing to approximately 14% of the global annual deforestation. Government tax revenue has subsidized much of the agricultural activity leading to deforestation. By 1995, 70% of previously forested land in the Amazon and 91% of land deforested since 1970 had been converted for cattle ranching. The remaining deforestation primarily results from mechanized cropland producing crops such as soy and palm and poor small-scale subsistence farmers who are encouraged to settle down in Amazonian forests by government land policies. In 2011, soy bean farming was estimated to account for around 15% of deforestation in the Amazon.
Satellite data from 2018 revealed a decade-high rate of deforestation in the Amazon, with approximately 7,900 km² destroyed between August 2017 and July 2018. The states of Mato Grosso and Pará experienced the highest levels of deforestation during this period. Illegal logging was cited as a cause by the Brazilian environment minister, while critics highlighted the expansion of agriculture as a factor encroaching on the rainforest. Researchers warn that the forest may reach a tipping point where it cannot generate sufficient rainfall to sustain itself.
In May 2025, research from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery Lab, published via the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch platform, found that global forest loss surged to record highs in 2024. Loss of tropical primary forests reached 6.7 million hectares—nearly twice the area lost in 2023 and roughly equivalent to the size of Panama. Brazil accounted for 42% of total tropical primary forest loss, largely driven by fires exacerbated by the country’s worst drought on record. Fires caused 66% of Brazil’s forest loss in 2024, a more than sixfold increase from 2023. The Amazon experienced its highest tree cover loss since 2016.

History

In the pre-Columbian era, certain parts of the Amazon rainforest were densely populated and cultivated. However, European colonization in the 16th century, driven by the pursuit of gold and later by the rubber boom, depopulated the region due to diseases and slavery, leading to forest regrowth.
Until the 1970s, access to the largely roadless interior of the forest was challenging, and it remained mostly intact apart from partial clearing along the rivers. Deforestation escalated after the construction of highways penetrating deep into the forest, such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway in 1972.
Challenges arose in parts of the Amazon where poor soil conditions made plantation-based agriculture unprofitable. The crucial turning point in deforestation occurred when colonists began establishing farms within the forest during the 1960s. Their farming practices relied on crop cultivation and the slash-and-burn method. However, due to soil fertility loss and weed invasion, the colonists struggled to effectively manage their fields and crops.
Indigenous areas in the Peruvian Amazon, like the Urarina's Chambira River Basin, experience limited soil productivity, leading to the continual clearing of new lands by indigenous horticulturalists. Cattle raising dominated Amazonian colonization as it required less labor, generated acceptable profits, and involved land under state ownership. While promoted as a reforestation measure, the privatization of land was criticized for potentially encouraging further deforestation and disregarding the rights of Peru's indigenous people, who typically lack formal title to land. The associated law, known as Law 840, faced significant resistance and was eventually repealed as unconstitutional.
Illegal deforestation in the Amazon increased in 2015 after decades of decline, driven primarily by consumer demand for products like palm oil. Brazilian farmers clear land to accommodate the growing demand for crops such as palm oil and soy. Deforestation releases significant amounts of carbon, and if current levels continue, the remaining forests worldwide could disappear within 100 years. The Brazilian government implemented the RED program to combat deforestation, providing support to various African countries through education programs and financial contributions.
In January 2019, Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, issued an executive order granting the agriculture ministry oversight over certain Amazon lands. This decision has been supported by cattle ranchers and mining companies but criticized for endangering indigenous populations and contributing to Brazil's relative contribution to global climate change.
Reports from the year 2021 indicated a 22% increase in deforestation from the previous year, reaching the highest level since 2006.

Causes of deforestation

The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is influenced by various factors at local, national, and international levels. The rainforest is sought after for purposes such as cattle ranching, the extraction of valuable hardwoods, land for housing and farming, the construction of roads, and the collection of medicinal resources. Deforestation in Brazil is also linked to an economic growth model focused on accumulating factors, primarily land, rather than enhancing overall productivity. It is important to note that illegal logging is a common practice in tree removal during deforestation.
Deforestation in the Amazon is complex and heterogeneous and varies across countries and regions. In the Peruvian Amazon for example, deforestation is caused by a combination of market factors and legal and illegal activities. Examples are logging, cattle ranching, palm oil expansion, mining and coca cultivation.

Cattle ranching

According to a 2004 World Bank paper and a 2009 Greenpeace report, cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon, supported by the international beef and leather trades, has been identified as responsible for approximately 80% of deforestation in the region. This accounts for about 14% of the world's total annual deforestation, making it the largest driver of deforestation globally. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported in 2006 that 70% of previously forested land in the Amazon, as well as 91% of land deforested since 1970, is now used for livestock pasture.
The 2019 European Union-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement, which establishes one of the world's largest free trade areas, has faced criticism from environmental activists and advocates for indigenous rights. They argue that the trade agreement will contribute to further deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by expanding market access for Brazilian beef.
During Jair Bolsonaro's government, certain environmental laws were weakened, accompanied by reductions in funding and personnel in key government agencies and the dismissal of agency heads and state bodies. The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. According to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by more than 50% in the first three months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
In October 2024, Brazil's environmental protection agency, IBAMA, levied fines totaling 365 million reais on cattle ranches and meatpacking companies, including JBS SA, the world's largest meat packer, for involvement in illegal deforestation in the Amazon. The fines were imposed on companies accused of raising or purchasing cattle from lands that were deforested without authorization.

Soy bean

Deforestation in the Amazon has occurred as a result of farmers clearing land for mechanized cropland. A study based on NASA satellite data in 2006 revealed that the clearing of land for mechanized cropland had become a significant factor in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. This change in land use has had an impact on the region's climate. Researchers discovered that in 2004, a peak year for deforestation, over 20% of the forests in the state of Mato Grosso were converted to cropland. In 2005, when soybean prices decreased by more than 25%, certain areas of Mato Grosso showed a decline in large-scale deforestation events, suggesting that price fluctuations of other crops, beef, and timber could also have a notable influence on future land use in the region.
The cultivation of soybeans, primarily for export and the production of biodiesel and animal feed, has been a significant driver of forest loss in the Amazon. As soybean prices have risen, soy farmers have expanded their activities into forested areas of the Amazon. However, the implementation of a private sector agreement known as the Soy Moratorium has played a crucial role in significantly reducing deforestation associated with soy production in the region. In 2006, several major commodity trading companies, including Cargill, pledged not to purchase soybeans produced in recently deforested areas of the Brazilian Amazon. Prior to the moratorium, 30% of soy field expansion was linked to deforestation, contributing to record-high deforestation rates. After eight years of the moratorium, a study conducted in 2015 found that although the soy production area had expanded by 1.3 million hectares, only about 1% of the new soy expansion had occurred at the expense of forests. In response to the moratorium, farmers opted to plant crops on already cleared land.
The perceived needs of soy farmers have been used to justify certain controversial transportation projects that have been developed in the Amazon. The Belém-Brasília highway and the Cuiabá-Porto Velho highway were the only federal highways in the Legal Amazon region that were paved and accessible year-round before the late 1990s. These two highways are considered to be central to the "arc of deforestation," which is presently the primary area of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The Belém-Brasília highway attracted nearly two million settlers in its first twenty years. The success of this highway in opening up the forest was replicated as additional paved roads were constructed, leading to an unstoppable wave of settlement. The completion of these roads was followed by a significant influx of settlers, who also had a substantial impact on the forest.