PROTECT AND RESTORE KEY AREAS OF THE AMAZON 2025–2030

The Amazon has lost 33 million hectares in just four years and is dangerously close to an ecological point of no return.

The Amazon is facing one of the most serious socio-environmental crises in its history. A new technical report by the Amazon Network for Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG), developed as part of the Amazon for Life initiative: Protect and Restore 80% 2025-2030, reveals that the Amazon region has lost 136 million hectares of forest between 1985 and 2024, an area equivalent to nearly three times the size of Spain.

The study, titled “Protect and Restore Key Areas of the Amazon 2025-2030,” warns that the Amazon has already undergone 30% cumulative transformation and degradation, dangerously approaching the threshold of ecological no return.

Amazon: 33 million hectares affected between 2021 and 2024
One of the most alarming findings in the report indicates that between 2021 and 2024, the Amazon experienced an unprecedented acceleration in the loss of natural cover, with approximately 8 million hectares degraded or transformed per year.

In just four years:

More than 33 million hectares were affected.
Deforestation exceeded 16.5 million hectares.
Forest fires affected more than 27 million hectares in 2024 alone.
CO₂ emissions from fires reached record levels over the past 15 years.
The report explains that the combination of deforestation, agricultural expansion, fires, extreme droughts, and climate change is weakening the Amazon’s ecological resilience and disrupting South America’s water and climate balance.

These figures reflect the sustained advance of extractive activities, agricultural expansion, and forest fires on territories critical to global climate stability.

Indigenous Territories: The Amazon’s Great Shields
The report highlights that Indigenous Territories, Protected Areas, and Ramsar Sites remain the most effective barriers against Amazonian destruction.

While outside these territorial boundaries, transformation and degradation reach an alarming 47%, within Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas, levels remain at around 13%.

Currently:

Indigenous territories safeguard more than 202 million hectares of stable forest.
Protected areas conserve 174 million hectares.
Ramsar sites preserve approximately 25 million hectares.
The study concludes that titled indigenous territories function as real and effective conservation mechanisms, even when conservation is not their explicit objective.

70% of the Amazon Still Stands
Despite the critical situation, the report maintains that there is still a real opportunity to prevent the collapse of the Amazon.

Currently, more than 538 million hectares of stable forest remain standing, representing approximately 70% of the Amazon.

However, researchers warn that the window for action is rapidly closing.

The Amazon for Life: Protect and Restore 80% 2025-2030 initiative highlights the urgent need to:

halt deforestation,
restore degraded areas,
strengthen territorial governance,
and recognize the leadership of Indigenous peoples as key actors in sustaining the planet’s climate resilience.
The Amazon cannot wait

Amazonian degradation is no longer a future threat: it is happening now.

The report issues a clear warning: protecting the Amazon is not merely about conserving biodiversity. It is about securing water, climate stability, and resilience for all of humanity.

Because preserving the forest is no longer a political choice. It is essential to the future of the planet.