Rio de Janeiro — The Amazon region has lost 10% of its native vegetation, mostly rainforest, in almost 40 years. This is about the size of Texas.
According to the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Social and Environmental Information (Raisg), from 1985 to 2021, deforestation area surged from 490,000 sq km (190,000 sq mi) to 1,250,000 sq km (482,000 sq mi), a record high for the Amazon. No destruction has taken place.
This figure is calculated from annual satellite monitoring since 1985 from Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. This report is a collaboration between Raisg and his MapBiomas, a network of Brazilian non-profits, universities and technology startups.
“The loss is enormous, virtually irreversible and has no prospect of recovery,” said Raisg, a consortium of civil society organizations from countries in the region, in a statement on Friday. “The data are a red flag and give a sense of urgency to the need for concerted, decisive and persuasive international action.”
Brazil, which accounts for about two-thirds of the Amazon, is also at the forefront of destruction. In almost 40 years, 19% of her rainforest has been destroyed. The main cause is the expansion of cattle grazing due to the opening of roads. The country accounted for 84% of all deforestation during this period.
