PROTECT AND RESTORE 80% OF THE AMAZON 2025–2030

Endangered Amazonia

The report “Amazonia in Danger” is a collection of 22 articles written by 55 authors from different fields — Indigenous leaders, activists, decision-makers, politicians, and others — and is divided into three sections. The first part presents the “Science Behind the Tipping Point,” which in recent years has emerged as a new area of knowledge that analyzes not only deforestation and degradation, but also ecosystem integrity, flying rivers, and evidence arising from the territories. This edition also includes an analysis of water, which is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the basin.

The second section presents the “Drivers of Destruction,” with articles that address the impact of commodities on the Amazon, the aftermath of “legal” activities (oil, mining) in key biodiversity areas and Indigenous territories, as well as “illegal” drivers such as illegal logging and mining. Three Indigenous leaders from different organizations include their testimonies on the impact of extractivism on their communities. The third and final section, “Toward a New Paradigm,” is a collection of disruptive contributions that could radically change the trajectory toward a new paradigm for the Amazon. This is not philosophy; these are realities already underway that can be replicated, scaled up, disseminated, (re)invented, and developed — in short, initiatives capable of changing public policies from a different perspective, from the periphery.

Where Are We Now?


The report “Amazonia on the Brink of Extinction” is not a continuation of the 2022 report “Amazonia Against the Clock.” The data presented here demonstrate the collapse of a system built over millennia. Thirty percent of what we call Amazonia is now deforested and severely degraded. This means that the level of degradation between 2020 and 2024 has risen by four percentage points.

This research, developed since 2021 by the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG) under the framework of the initiative “Amazonia for Life: Protect and Restore 80% by 2025–2030,” uses a unique methodology based on data from 1985 to 2024. It provides a series of findings aimed at informing and guiding global and national policy to prevent the advance of “tipping point” scenarios that are already unfolding in certain Amazonian regions.

First, this report presents an update of the results included in the 2022 report “Amazonia Against the Clock,” which was based on RAISG data from 2020. The goal is to account for the trajectory of deforestation, degradation, and fires and their regional impacts across two periods: 2020 and 2024. Second, it breaks down the data by country to provide inputs that can help guide urgent actions in response to tipping points already evident in some territories. Finally, it analyzes the spread of degradation, deforestation, and fires within Indigenous Territories, protected areas, and, in this edition, Ramsar Sites.

The data confirm an accelerated trajectory toward a point of no return in several regions unless emergency measures are taken. However, the final conclusion is that 70% of the Amazon rainforest still stands, and that priority areas have been identified using 12 variables that can guide immediate regional and national public policies.

Some key conclusions from this research follow:

  1. In total, over the 40 years analyzed (1985–2024), the Amazon has lost 136 million hectares of forest, an area equivalent to nearly three times the size of Spain.
  2. Between 2021 and 2024, the region experienced an unprecedented acceleration in the loss of its natural cover, with a rate of transformation and degradation of around 8 million hectares per year, equivalent to more than 33 million hectares affected in just four years.
  3. While 2020 data showed a 26% loss due to deforestation (20%) and severe degradation (6%), by 2024 the transformed and degraded areas covered 30% of the Amazon, reducing the areas with high ecological functionality to 70%. This trend indicates a real and imminent risk of irreversible loss of resilience in Amazonian ecosystems, threatening climate stability, water availability, and the region’s biodiversity.
  4. Bolivia and Brazil continue to be the countries with the highest levels of transformation and degradation of Amazonian ecosystems and landscapes, as was already evidenced in the 2022 report.
  5. The year 2024 is shaping up to be one of the most catastrophic, with more than 21 million hectares affected by fires.
  6. By 2024, the indicators show a moderate increase: 13% in Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas, and 25% in Ramsar Sites, in contrast to a concerning 47% rate of transformation and degradation outside these areas.
  7. The results confirm the fundamental role of Indigenous Territories as effective conservation mechanisms, comparable to protected areas.
  8. By 2024, the Amazon has more than 538 million hectares of stable forest, meaning that 70% remains standing. Of this total, Indigenous Territories safeguard 202 million hectares, Protected Areas 174 million, and Ramsar Sites 25 million. In contrast, forests outside these protected areas are the most vulnerable to loss and fragmentation, urgently requiring effective conservation and restoration strategies (covering 194 million hectares of forest).
  9. An action plan for the restoration of at least 10% of the Amazon must be a tangible outcome of COP30.
  10. It is urgent that the region adopt a regional goal to prevent a tipping point.

 

The State of the Amazon by Country

The regional trend once again positions Bolivia and Brazil as the countries with the highest levels of transformation and degradation of Amazonian ecosystems and landscapes. In the case of Bolivia, whose Amazon region represents 65% of its national territory, by 2024 28% has been transformed and 10% degraded. Meanwhile, Brazil, which has 61% of its territory within the Amazon region, shows 32% transformation and 4% degradation. In both cases, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, deforestation, and forest fires have significantly reduced the Key Areas for the ecological functionality and integrity of the Amazon as a whole.

Likewise, the comparative results between 2020 and 2024 reveal worrying trends in Ecuador and Colombia. In Ecuador, 23% of Amazonian areas already show levels of transformation, while in Colombia, transformation and degradation reach 19%. These figures reflect a sustained expansion of human pressures and an accelerated loss of ecological connectivity in critical sectors for regional conservation.

Indigenous Territories, Protected Areas, and Ramsar Sites: The Shields of the Amazon

Approximately half of the Amazon is made up of Indigenous Territories (ITs), Protected Areas (PAs), and Ramsar Sites, which have become true shields against deforestation and degradation. These territories represent an essential component of the hopeful solutions for the conservation and resilience of the Amazon.

Although since 2020 the transformation and degradation of Amazonian ecosystems have not subsided—driven mainly by the expansion of the agricultural frontier and the increasing recurrence of forest fires—the rates of deterioration within the ITs, PAs, and Ramsar Sites remain significantly lower than those recorded outside these areas, confirming their role as effective barriers against ecological collapse.

In 2020, these three territorial categories registered transformation and degradation levels of 10% in Indigenous Territories, 11% in Protected Areas, and 19% in Ramsar Sites, while outside them, transformation exceeded 42%.

By 2024, indicators show a moderate increase: 13% in ITs and PAs, and 25% in Ramsar Sites, in contrast to a worrying 47% transformation and degradation outside these areas.

The results confirm the fundamental role of Indigenous Territories as effective conservation mechanisms, comparable to protected areas. In many cases, a titled Indigenous Territory effectively guarantees the protection and maintenance of ecological functionality, even when conservation is not its explicit objective.

Furthermore, the comparative statistics from 2020 and 2024 show that the areas where an Indigenous Territory, a Protected Area, and a Ramsar Site overlap or coincide present the highest levels of ecological integrity and the lowest rates of degradation, consolidating a key territorial model to sustain Amazonian resilience.