Deforestation in Cerrado falls by 33% in 2024, but remains high
Deforestation in the Cerrado dropped by 33 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to data released by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) on Thursday (Feb. 6). Last year, vegetation loss in the country's second-largest biome totaled 712,000 hectares, down from 1 million hectares in 2023.
Despite the reduction, researchers caution that the total deforested area remains very high. The 700,000 hectares of lost native forest are equivalent to an area larger than the Federal District.
"The decline in deforestation in the Cerrado in 2024 likely reflects the impact of the policies implemented to combat and control it over the past year. However, despite the reduction, the total deforested area remains high compared to historical trends and deforestation levels in other biomes, such as the Amazon. For instance, approximately 700,000 hectares were deforested in the Cerrado last year, nearly double the 380,000 hectares cleared in the Amazon during the same period," says Fernanda Ribeiro, a researcher at IPAM and coordinator of the study.
Currently, approximately 62 percent of the Cerrado's native vegetation is located on private rural properties, which are governed by the Forest Code. This legislation permits deforestation of up to 80 percent of the total area. Most of the deforestation has occurred within these private lands.
In comparison, the Forest Code in the Legal Amazon allows deforestation of up to 20 percent of the area. The legal framework permitting greater deforestation in the Cerrado poses a greater threat to the biome, exacerbating the risk of prolonged droughts and more extreme weather events, warns IPAM.
The data confirm a downward trend in the Cerrado's official deforestation rate, which declined for the first time in five years between August 2023 and July 2024, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) at the end of last year.
The Matopiba region—an acronym representing areas in the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia—accounted for 82 percent of all deforestation in the Cerrado in 2024, with 586,000 hectares of native vegetation lost. This region, which is at the forefront of agricultural expansion in the Cerrado, has been a primary driver of deforestation, as agricultural activities continue to push forward into previously untouched areas.
A major concern is Maranhão, which, despite a 26 percent reduction in deforestation, was still responsible for the loss of 225,000 hectares—about a third of the total deforestation in the Cerrado in 2024, according to IPAM.
"This underscores the need for additional measures beyond combat and control policies. Changing this scenario requires greater involvement from the private sector, along with land-use planning, as well as economic and regulatory instruments, similar to those implemented in the Amazon," says Fernanda Ribeiro.
