The territory devastated by fire last year is larger than that of Italy; Amazon was the most affected biome
The area devastated by fires in Brazil grew 79% in 2024 compared to 2023, according to data from MapBiomas. 30,867,676 hectares were burned last year – an area larger than the entire territory of Italy.
Of the more than 30 million hectares burned in 2024, 73% were native vegetation, 25% in forest formations. Fires in pasture areas accounted for 21.9% of the total in 2024. Here is the data (PDF – 4 MB).
The number of burned areas in 2024 was the highest since 2019, the beginning of the Fire Monitor series.
“The year 2024 stood out as an atypical and alarming period for fire in Brazil, with a significant increase in the area burned in almost all biomes, especially affecting forest areas, which are normally not as affected.”, said Ane Alencar, director of Sciences at Ipam (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) and coordinator of MapBiomas Fogo.
The Amazon was the biome with the highest number of fires: 17.9 million hectares were set on fire in 2024. It is followed by Cerrado (9.7 million), Pantanal (1.9 million), Atlantic Forest (1 million), Caatinga (330 thousand) and Pampa (3,400).
“Fire in the Amazon is not a natural phenomenon and is not part of its ecological dynamics; is an element introduced by human actions”, declared Felipe Martenexen, from MapBiomas Fogo.
The state that suffered most from the fires was Pará: 7.3 million hectares (24% of the total). The venue will host COP30 this year.
After Pará are the States of Mato Grosso (6.8 million hectares) and Tocantins (2.7 million).
