Survey identifies 4 million hectares that could be destined for forest restoration
A study of the 2030 Amazon project, released on Sunday (29.mar.2025), revealed that most of the deforested areas in the Amazon have low agricultural potential. The research, a collaboration between the Imazon (Institute of Man and the Environment of the Amazon) and the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center, analyzed 5.7 million hectares of secondary vegetation. This is a (PDF – 2 MB).
Data from 2023 show that 71% of these areas, or 4.04 million hectares, have a low ability for agriculture. On the other hand, only 29%, equivalent to 1.7 million hectares, have high potential for grain production.
The analysis identified that the states of Pará, Amazonas and Mato Grosso house the highest extend of secondary vegetation with low agricultural potential. These areas are distributed among private properties, unpaid public land, areas with Car (Rural Environmental Registry) and rural settlements.
The study also revealed that more than 90% of deforestation in the Amazon is illegal, often performed without considering the productive potential of the soil. This leads to abandoning deforested areas that do not meet production expectations, starting a natural restoration process.
The results will be presented to the Brazilian Forest Service of the Ministry of the Environment. Amaral expressed the expectation that specific policies will be developed, especially in Pará, where the Climate Conference 30 in November will take place.
In addition to areas with secondary vegetation, the survey identified 29.7 million hectares of deforested land with low capacity for grain production, but without vegetation cover.
The methodology included overlapping spatial data, analysis of land use and coverage maps, and evaluation of secondary vegetation loss in relation to burning, using the map of Mapbiomas fire scars.
