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In 2024, the Amazon rainforest experienced its worst forest fires in over two decades, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service put down to “climate extremes and human activity”. <\/p>\n
“The 2025 figures are significant and show that it is possible to reduce the burned area in the country,” Vera Arruda, a researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and co-ordinator at MapBiomas, told the BBC.<\/p>\n
“The 31% drop compared to the historical average – driven primarily by the lowest number of fires recorded in the Amazon in 41 years – is positive news, but it does not yet allow us to conclude that this is an established trend or to scale back prevention efforts,” Arruda added. <\/p>\n
The MapBiomas report shows a dramatic drop in area burned not just in the Amazon, but across the whole of Brazil in 2025. <\/p>\n
Figures show around 12.7 million hectares burned in Brazil in 2025, compared to 30 million hectares in 2024.<\/p>\n
The highest number of hectares burned in Brazil since records began was in 2007, when 30.7 million were recorded across the country. <\/p>\n
The decline in the 2025 figures partly reflects an easing of the unprecedented fires of 2024, helped by cooler La Ni\u00f1a conditions instead of the warmer El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n
But MapBiomas warned the natural weather pattern of El Ni\u00f1o, which pushes up global temperatures, could extend this year’s dry season and increase the risk of forest fires.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n