In a rare bit of good news for the world’s largest rainforest, the area burned in Brazil’s Amazon in 2025 was far smaller than the previous year, according to MapBiomas. The monitoring group reports that 3.1 million hectares went up in smoke last year, compared to a record-breaking 15.8 million hectares in 2024. That’s the smallest burned area since MapBiomas started keeping tabs in 1985 - so, you know, progress.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who made protecting the Amazon a key campaign promise four years ago, will surely be pleased. These figures come just in time for his re-election bid in October, because nothing says “vote for me” like fewer crispy trees. In 2024, the Amazon suffered its worst fires in over two decades, which Copernicus Climate Change Service blamed on “climate extremes and human activity” - so, basically everything.

Vera Arruda, a researcher at IPAM and MapBiomas coordinator, told the BBC: “The 2025 figures are significant and show that it is possible to reduce the burned area.” But she added the obligatory caution: “The 31% drop compared to the historical average… does not yet allow us to conclude that this is an established trend or to scale back prevention efforts.” In other words: don’t break out the confetti just yet.

The good news extends beyond the Amazon: across Brazil, about 12.7 million hectares burned in 2025, down from 30 million in 2024. The record remains 2007’s 30.7 million hectares, so we’re still not winning any awards. The decline partly reflects a shift from warmer El Niño to cooler La Niña conditions, because weather patterns are fickle friends. But MapBiomas warned that El Niño could return, extending the dry season and upping fire risk - because of course it could.

Tropical rainforests like the Amazon are home to millions of species and, when healthy, absorb vast amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide. They’ve been under pressure from decades of land clearance for agriculture and logging, plus climate change, which scientists say creates conditions for bigger fires. Lula promised to reverse deforestation under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who argued that more farming and mining would reduce poverty. Environmentalists accused Bolsonaro of letting deforestation accelerate, and indeed, tree cutting rose 75% during his term.

On his first day in office, Lula declared a goal of “zero deforestation in the Amazon.” Environmentalists cheered, but they’ve since frowned at his approval of oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River - a move activists say contradicts his promises. So, mixed messages, as usual. But hey, at least something burned less this year.