Deforestation in Brazil’s Legal Amazon estimated to have increased by 21.97% in 2021

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE) on Thursday, November 18, announced that the deforestation rate in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (ALB) will reach 13,235 square kilometers (km²) in the August 1, 2020 to July 31, 2021 period.

The rate established by the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon by Satellite (PRODES) represents an increase of 21.97% in relation to deforestation rate in the previous 12-month period.

The monitoring is based on Landsat or similar satellite images and considers as deforestation the “complete removal of primary forest cover by clear cutting, irrespective of the future use of these areas.”

According to INPE data, the states of Pará, Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Rondônia account for 87.25% of the estimated deforestation in the Legal Amazon, with Pará as the state with the highest absolute deforestation rate (5,257 km2) and also the state with the lowest percentage variation in deforestation (7.31%).

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