The Brazilian Amazon experienced its lowest level of forest burning since records began 40 years ago, according to a new report by MapBiomas, which monitors deforestation across Brazil. Approximately 3.1 million hectares of Amazon rainforest burned in 2025, a dramatic decline from the 15.8 million hectares recorded in 2024. Across Brazil as a whole, around 12.7 million hectares were burned last year, compared to 30 million hectares in 2024 — itself close to the all-time national record of 30.7 million hectares set in 2007.
The turnaround follows what was the Amazon's worst fire season in more than two decades. Scientists attribute last year's improvement primarily to the shift from El Niño to La Niña weather conditions. El Niño, a recurring climate pattern that raises global temperatures and intensifies drought, drove the extreme fires of 2024; La Niña, its cooler counterpart, helped ease conditions in 2025. Researchers also point to improvements in Brazil's fire prevention systems, including better satellite monitoring that allows authorities to identify high-risk areas and take early action before fires take hold.
Despite the encouraging figures, scientists urge caution. "The 31% drop compared to the historical average is positive news, but it does not yet allow us to conclude that this is an established trend or to scale back prevention efforts," said Vera Arruda, a researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and co-ordinator at MapBiomas. Crucially, MapBiomas warns that El Niño is expected to return, potentially extending the dry season and raising fire risk once again.
The results come against a complex political backdrop. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office in January 2023, made tackling Amazon deforestation a central pledge, vowing to achieve zero deforestation and expanding satellite monitoring of the rainforest. His predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had argued that expanding farming and mining in the Amazon would reduce regional poverty, but was accused by environmentalists of allowing deforestation to accelerate — with tree loss rising 75% in the third year of his term. Lula's record, however, has drawn its own criticism: environmental activists have condemned his approval of oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon river as contradicting his conservation commitments.
The Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, is home to millions of plant and animal species and plays a critical role in absorbing carbon dioxide and regulating the global climate. Decades of deliberate land clearance for agriculture and logging, combined with the worsening effects of climate change, have placed the ecosystem under severe pressure. While 2025's figures offer a rare moment of cautious optimism, researchers stress that sustained policy commitment — rather than favourable weather alone — will be essential to protecting the forest long term.