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The Brazilian Amazon deforestation rate in 2020 is the greatest of the decade

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 5, pages 144–145 (2021)Cite this article

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As part of Brazil’s measures to achieve targets set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the National Policy on Climate Change, established in 2009, committed to reducing the deforestation rate in Amazonia by 80% by 2020 (refs. 3,5). This would have meant a maximum forest loss this year of 3,925 km2 compared to the baseline of 19,625 km2 (the average of the 1996–2005 period)3,5. However, since 2013, official deforestation rates have been on an upward trend, worsening in the last two years1. In 2019, 10,129 km2 of forest was clear-cut, an increase of 34% compared to 2018 (7,536 km2). In 2020, the Brazilian Amazon Deforestation Monitoring Program (PRODES; see Supplementary Information) estimated deforestation of 11,088 km2 based on 45% of the monitored area. This represents an increase of 47% and 9.5% compared to 2018 and 2019, respectively, and is the highest rate in the decade1. Although this is not the final number, previous years indicate an average difference of 58 ± 303 km2 between the first estimate and the final consolidated rate1, which will be presented in the first half of 2021.

The 2020 deforestation rate is 182% higher than the established target of 3,925 km2 and represents a reduction of only 44% instead of the 80% established in law3. It equates to 648 TgCO2 (or 648 million tons of CO2) emitted to the atmosphere related to gross deforestation6. In addition to compromising the greenhouse gas reduction targets, the rise in deforestation has intensified fires7. Fires promote large amounts of smoke emission, which can affect the population’s respiratory health, exacerbating the vulnerability of indigenous, traditional and rural people8. Brazil has clearly failed in its bold intention to reduce deforestation rates.

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Fig. 1: Deforestation on the rise.

References

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Acknowledgements

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. A.C.M.P., N.S.C., J.B.C.R. and L.E.O.C.A. thank the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for funding (processes 140877/2018-5, 140379/2018-5, 301597/2020-0 and 305054/2016-3, respectively). L.O.A. thanks the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI; process SGP-HW 016), the CNPq (processes 441949/2018-5 and 442650/2018-3), and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP; processes 2016/02018-2 and 2019/05440-5) for funding. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We also thank the scientists at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) for providing the freely available deforestation datasets. We note that this study resulted from a female mentorship.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Celso H. L. Silva Junior, Ana C. M. Pessôa, Nathália S. Carvalho.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Ecosystems and Environmental Sciences Laboratory (TREES), São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Celso H. L. Silva Junior, Ana C. M. Pessôa, Nathália S. Carvalho, João B. C. Reis, Liana O. Anderson & Luiz E. O. C. Aragão

  2. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Celso H. L. Silva Junior, Ana C. M. Pessôa, Nathália S. Carvalho & Luiz E. O. C. Aragão

  3. Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais (CEMADEN), São José dos Campos, Brazil

    João B. C. Reis & Liana O. Anderson

  4. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Luiz E. O. C. Aragão

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Correspondence to Celso H. L. Silva Junior.

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Peer review information Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks the anonymous reviewer for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Tables 1 and 2, Fig. 1, Methods, references and Portuguese translation of the Correspondence main text.

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Silva Junior, C.H.L., Pessôa, A.C.M., Carvalho, N.S. et al. The Brazilian Amazon deforestation rate in 2020 is the greatest of the decade. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 144–145 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01368-x

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