Under Lula, deforestation in protected areas in the Amazon, such as indigenous lands, has reached the lowest rate in 9 years. 386 km² of forest were felled in 2023, while deforestation in 2022 was 1,431 km². The Legal Amazon corresponds to 59% of the Brazilian territory and encompasses the area of nine states
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General deforestation in the Amazon, which includes the total area and not just environmental protection sites, registered a drop of 62% in 2023, compared to the previous year. This is the lowest number recorded since 2018. The data comes from satellite image monitoring from the Imazon research institute.
According to the survey, in 2022, the deforested area was 10,573 km². In 2023, this number was 4,030 km². Despite the decrease, vegetation clearing still represents around 1,100 football fields per day.
According to the report, a worrying point in 2023 was degradation. In December, while 108 km² were deforested, another 1,050 km² were degraded, almost 10 times more.
In relation to the states that deforested the most in 2023, Pará, Amazonas and Mato Grosso remain at the top of the ranking. Of the nine states that make up the Legal Amazon, only three recorded an increase in destruction, Roraima, Tocantins and Amapá.
Check the area deforested by state in 2023:
Pará: 1,228 km²
Amazon: 877 km²
Mato Grosso: 864 km²
Acres: 333 km2
Roraima: 321 km²
Rondônia: 206 km²
Maranhão: 162 km²
Tocantins: 21 km²
Amapá: 18 km2
Indigenous lands
Deforestation in territories of original peoples dropped by 52% in 2023, compared to the previous year, it was the smallest area of indigenous lands deforested since 2017.
In 2023, 104 km² were devastated, which is less than half of the figure recorded in 2022, which was 217 km².
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Despite the reduction, some indigenous lands saw an increase in destruction. This is the case of the Igarapé Lage community, in Rondônia, and Waimiri Atroari, on the border of Amazonas and Roraima. Both had a 300% increase in deforestation. Yanomami lands, on the other hand, saw a 150% increase in deforestation.
The largest area destroyed in an indigenous territory in 2023 was in Apyterewa land, where 13 km² were deforested. Despite occupying the top of the ranking, the community had an 85% reduction in devastation compared to 2022, when it lost 88 km² of forest.
History of deforestation on indigenous lands:
2023: 104 km²
2022: 217 km²
2021: 263 km²
2020: 353 km²
2019: 369 km²
2018: 155 km²
2017: 70 km²
2016: 43 km²
2015: 38 km²
2014: 28 km²
2013: 56 km²
2021: 75 km²
Researcher Carlos Souza Jr., coordinator of the Imazon Amazon Monitoring Program, assesses that the reduction in deforestation in protected areas after years of increase is very positive, but warns that other territories also need urgent action throughout 2024, given the significant increase in destruction. “These are territories that need to have priority in actions to combat deforestation”, he explains.
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Conservation units
The most impactful reduction was in conservation units in the Amazon, where deforestation in 2023 was the lowest recorded in nine years, since 2014.
In terms of comparison, in 2022, the devastation of indigenous lands and conservation units corresponded to an area of 1,214 km². In 2023, this number was 282 km², a reduction of 77%.
Conservation units are divided according to jurisdiction. In federal areas, the reduction in deforestation was greater, going from 468 km² in 2022 to 97 km² in 2023. The reduction was 79%, almost five times smaller.
In state areas, the devastation went from 746 km², in 2022, to 185 km², in 2023, corresponding to a drop of 75% less.
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