The Amazon rainforest covers 550 million hectares and contains roughly 10% of all species on Earth. It has also lost approximately 17% of its original forest cover to Amazon deforestation, with another 17% degraded according to a 2023 assessment published in Science. The rate of clearing has slowed in recent years, but the forest remains under pressure from cattle ranching, soy farming, and illegal land speculation.
This article covers the scale of Amazon deforestation, what drives it, why scientists warn about a tipping point, and how regulations like the EUDR are connecting deforestation data to global supply chains.
How Much of the Amazon Has Been Deforested?
Brazil’s national space agency INPE has monitored Amazon deforestation systematically since 1988 using satellite imagery. The PRODES system produces annual deforestation estimates by analyzing Landsat images, covering the Legal Amazon (an administrative region that includes 5 million km2 of territory).
Key figures from the PRODES record:
Annual clearing in 2024-25: 5,796 km2, the lowest rate since 2014 and a 63% drop from the peak of 13,235 km2 in 2020-21. Brazil’s government attributes the decline to strengthened enforcement, including increased fines and satellite-guided operations against illegal clearers.
Cumulative loss: Roughly 830,000 km2 of Amazon forest has been cleared since monitoring began, an area larger than France and the United Kingdom combined. Most of this clearing occurred between 1990 and 2010.
Degradation: Beyond outright deforestation, forest degradation (selective logging, fire damage, edge effects) has increased by 163% over the past decade according to INPE’s DETER-B system. Degraded forest is harder to detect from space than clear-cutting, but it reduces carbon storage, biodiversity, and the forest’s ability to regulate rainfall.
What Causes Amazon Deforestation?
Four drivers account for the vast majority of Amazon deforestation. Their relative importance has shifted over time, but cattle ranching has dominated for decades.
Cattle Ranching
Cattle ranching drives an estimated 80% of Amazon deforestation. Brazil has the world’s largest commercial cattle herd, with roughly 200 million head, and much of the expansion has occurred on former forest land. The economics are straightforward: cleared land in the Amazon costs $200-600 per hectare, while established cattle pasture sells for several times that. Land speculation, where individuals clear forest to establish a property claim and then sell, accounts for a significant share of clearing.
“Cattle laundering” complicates traceability. Cattle raised on illegally deforested land are often moved to a compliant farm before slaughter, severing the link between the animal and its origin. Direct suppliers to major meatpackers like JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva may appear compliant while sourcing from non-compliant indirect suppliers.
Soy Farming
Soy accounts for roughly 8-10% of Amazon deforestation. The Amazon Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement among major traders since 2006, successfully reduced direct soy-driven deforestation in the Amazon biome. However, soy expansion continues in the adjacent Cerrado savanna, which is not covered by the moratorium but is ecologically significant in its own right.
Logging
Illegal logging is both a direct driver and an enabler of further deforestation. Loggers build roads into previously inaccessible forest, and these roads attract settlers and ranchers who clear remaining trees. An estimated 70-90% of logging in the Amazon is illegal, according to Chatham House research. Selective logging also degrades forest structure, making it more vulnerable to fire.
Mining and Infrastructure
Gold mining (garimpo) and infrastructure projects like roads and hydroelectric dams cause localized but severe deforestation. Illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 75% between 2019 and 2023, according to MapBiomas, contaminating rivers with mercury and clearing forest along waterways.
The Amazon Tipping Point
Climate scientists have warned that the Amazon may approach a tipping point where deforestation and climate change interact to trigger a self-reinforcing cycle of forest dieback. The Amazon generates roughly 30-50% of its own rainfall through evapotranspiration: trees release moisture into the atmosphere, which falls again as rain over the forest. Remove enough trees, and the rainfall cycle weakens, causing remaining forest to dry out and die.
Research by Carlos Nobre and Thomas Lovejoy, published in Science Advances, estimated this tipping point at 20-25% total deforestation. With 17% already cleared, the margin is narrowing. Southern and eastern portions of the Amazon have already shifted from carbon sinks to carbon sources, meaning they release more CO2 than they absorb. A 2021 study in Nature by Gatti et al. confirmed this reversal using atmospheric measurements.
The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report identified the Amazon dieback as one of several potential climate tipping elements with global consequences. A large-scale conversion of Amazon rainforest to savanna would release an estimated 50-70 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, roughly five years of global fossil fuel emissions.
How Satellite Monitoring Tracks Amazon Deforestation
Brazil operates two complementary satellite monitoring systems for the Amazon:
PRODES produces annual deforestation estimates by analyzing high-resolution Landsat imagery. PRODES detects clearings above 6.25 hectares and serves as the official deforestation record. Each year’s data covers August to July, aligning with the dry season when clearing activity peaks and cloud cover is lowest.
DETER is a near-real-time alert system using MODIS and other moderate-resolution satellites. DETER scans the Amazon daily, flagging any clearing above 3 hectares. DETER alerts go directly to IBAMA (Brazil’s environmental enforcement agency), enabling rapid response. While less precise than PRODES, DETER’s speed makes it an enforcement tool rather than just a measurement system.
Beyond Brazil’s national systems, global platforms like Global Forest Watch (WRI), the Hansen Global Forest Change dataset (University of Maryland), and ESA’s Sentinel-2 archive provide independent verification. These systems allow companies conducting deforestation due diligence to check land cover status at any Amazon coordinate.
EUDR and Amazon Commodities
The EU Deforestation Regulation directly affects two major Amazon commodities: cattle (beef and leather) and soy. Both are among the seven products regulated under EUDR, and Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of both.
For cattle, the EUDR requires GPS coordinates for every farm in the supply chain, including indirect suppliers. This directly targets the cattle laundering problem described above: companies can no longer rely solely on their direct supplier’s compliance without verifying the full supply chain back to the ranch of origin. Satellite imagery showing land cover before and after the December 2020 cutoff date provides the evidence needed.
For soy, the EUDR covers Brazilian soy exported to the EU regardless of whether it comes from the Amazon biome or the Cerrado. This is significant because the Amazon Soy Moratorium, which voluntary traders respected, never covered the Cerrado. The EUDR fills that gap by applying the December 2020 cutoff to all soy, from any biome.
Brazil’s country risk classification under the EUDR benchmarking system will determine the level of due diligence required. Given the Amazon’s deforestation history, a standard or high-risk classification is likely, triggering more frequent verification checks and larger sample sizes for incoming shipments.
Companies sourcing Amazon commodities now need systems that link individual shipments to specific parcels of land, with satellite-verified land cover data for each location. Platforms like Continuuiti’s LULC+ provide this verification by generating year-by-year land cover timelines with deforestation risk scoring for any coordinate, including within the Amazon.
Policy Responses
Multiple policy frameworks now target Amazon deforestation:
Brazil’s PPCDAm (Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon) was revived in 2023 after being weakened during 2019-2022. The plan combines satellite monitoring, enforcement operations, support for sustainable land use, and land tenure regularization.
The Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use committed 145 countries to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. Brazil is a signatory, though implementation depends on sustained political commitment.
REDD+ programs create financial incentives for keeping forest standing. Brazil hosts the Amazon Fund, which has received over $1.3 billion in international contributions to support forest conservation and sustainable development in the Amazon region.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed?
Approximately 17% of the Amazon’s original forest cover has been cleared, with another 17% degraded by selective logging, fire, and edge effects. Roughly 830,000 km2 has been deforested since systematic satellite monitoring began in 1988, an area larger than France and the UK combined.
What is the main cause of Amazon deforestation?
Cattle ranching drives an estimated 80% of Amazon deforestation. Brazil has roughly 200 million head of cattle, and much of the herd expansion has occurred on former forest land. Land speculation, where individuals clear forest to establish property claims, is a closely related driver.
Is Amazon deforestation increasing or decreasing?
Amazon deforestation has decreased in recent years. INPE’s PRODES system recorded 5,796 km2 of clearing in 2024-25, the lowest rate since 2014 and a 63% drop from the 2020-21 peak. However, forest degradation has increased by 163% over the past decade, and the cumulative loss remains high.
What is the Amazon tipping point?
Scientists estimate that at 20-25% total deforestation, the Amazon could cross a tipping point where reduced evapotranspiration triggers a self-reinforcing cycle of drought and forest dieback. With 17% already cleared, the margin is narrowing. Southern and eastern portions of the Amazon have already shifted from carbon sinks to carbon sources.
How does EUDR affect Amazon supply chains?
The EUDR requires companies importing cattle products or soy from Brazil to prove they were not produced on land deforested after December 31, 2020. This means GPS coordinates for every farm of origin, satellite verification of land cover, and due diligence statements for each shipment. Brazil is likely to receive a standard or high-risk classification, triggering enhanced verification requirements.
How is Amazon deforestation monitored?
Brazil operates two satellite systems: PRODES for annual high-resolution measurements and DETER for near-real-time daily alerts. International platforms like Global Forest Watch and the Hansen Global Forest Change dataset provide independent verification. Sentinel-2 satellites capture 10-meter resolution imagery every 5 days.
Amazon deforestation has slowed, but it has not stopped. The forest has lost 17% of its cover and is approaching a tipping point that could trigger irreversible dieback. For companies sourcing cattle, soy, or wood from Brazil, the EUDR now makes satellite-verified supply chain traceability a condition of EU market access. The satellite monitoring systems that track Amazon deforestation are the same systems that will verify compliance.
