What happened
Satellite-based assessment of Brazil’s forests shows that fire incidence in the Amazon fell sharply in 2025 and reached a historic low. The decline followed the severe fire season of 2024 and reflects a mix of weather conditions, land-use patterns, and community behaviour.
The assessment also warns that Brazil’s fire risk is not over. The Amazon remains vulnerable to deforestation, illegal mining-linked land disturbance, and future drought conditions, while the Cerrado savanna has not shown the same degree of improvement.
Background and earlier position
Brazil’s Amazon has faced repeated fire stress in recent years because forest clearing and burning often overlap. Fires are frequently set to clear agricultural land, and degraded or deforested areas burn more easily than intact forest.
Brazil’s government has also promised to reduce deforestation, and the current administration has tied forest protection to its climate agenda. At the same time, environmental activists have criticised President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s support for offshore oil exploration off the Amazon coast.
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