Pará was the state with the largest deforested area in 2021

Of every four hectares deforested in Brazil in 2021, one was in Pará, where deforestation reached 402,492 ha (24.3% of the total). Amazonas, which was fourth in the ranking in 2020, now appears in second place, with 194,485 ha deforested, representing 11.8% of the total. Mato Grosso appeared in third, with a loss of 189,880 ha (11.5%), followed by Maranhão, with 167,047 ha (10.1%), and Bahia, with 152,098 ha (9.2%). Together, these 5 states accounted for 67% of the deforested area in Brazil in 2021. This data is in the Annual Report on Deforestation in Brazil in 2021, released by MapBiomas on Monday (18).

Thirteen states surpassed the mark of 1,000 deforestation alerts in 2021; in 2020, there were 11 states, and in 2019, 10 states. There was growth in the deforested area in 20 states, remaining stable in two (TO and RR) and falling in only five (AL, SC, ES, RJ and AP). Among the states where deforestation grew the most in proportional terms are Pernambuco, Paraíba, Ceará, Minas Gerais and Sergipe, with an increase of more than 80% in the area detected. This reflects the growth in deforestation and also the improvement in the SAD Caatinga detection system. In absolute numbers, the biggest increases were in Amazonas (64,673 ha) and Bahia (46,160 ha).

Almost a quarter (Matopiba, where there was also a 14% increase in the deforested area compared to 2020. There were 5,206 alerts and 391.559 ha deforested. The Matopiba region was where most of the deforestation in the Cerrado was concentrated: around 73%. In the new frontier of deforestation in the Amazon - the region that is becoming known as Amacro (on the border of Amazonas, Acre and Rondônia) - the deforested area represented12.2% of the total in Brazil in 2021, with 6,858 alerts and 203.143 ha deforested. In 20218,.8% increase in deforestation compared to 2020.

RAD 2021 is the third in a series that aims to consolidate and analyze information about all deforestation detected in the six Brazilian biomes, by the multiple alert systems available, and which were validated, refined and published by the MapBiomas Alerta project.

>> Study shows that deforestation in 2021 grew in all biomes in Brazil

>> Access the full report and highlights of the Annual Deforestation Report (RAD 2021)