Fires in the Brazilian Amazon fell to their lowest level in four decades last year, according to data released on Tuesday by the environmental monitoring network MapBiomas. The report, based on satellite imagery, found that 3.1 million hectares of the world’s largest tropical rainforest burned in 2025, the smallest area since the network’s records began in 1985. The figure represents a dramatic drop from 2024, when a historic drought helped drive fires across 15.8 million hectares, the highest ever recorded.

MapBiomas report coordinator Ane Alencar described the decline as “out of the ordinary.” She attributed it in part to a delayed rainy season between 2024 and 2025, which prevented the emergence of an “ideal window for burning in certain areas” where fire is used to clear agricultural land. The report also cites a continued reduction in deforestation, which limits the fuel available for fires, and a “psychological factor” among communities that, fearing a repeat of the previous year’s devastation, helped control outbreaks.

Nationwide, the total burned area in Brazil fell to 12.7 million hectares, 31% below the historical average and the lowest since 2018. Yet the Cerrado savanna, the country’s second-largest biome, continued to burn at similar rates to 2024, with 8.7 million hectares affected. The report also introduced new metrics on fire recurrence and severity: 64% of all burned area in Brazil since 1985 has caught fire more than once, and in the Amazon, nearly a third of burned areas reignite within two years, shortening the forest’s recovery time. While most burned areas experienced low or moderate severity, in the Atlantic Forest, Pampa, and Pantanal biomes, high and very high severity accounted for at least half of the affected land.

The sharp reduction in Amazon fires arrives less than three months before President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva seeks a fourth non-consecutive term in October elections. Lula has made environmental protection a pillar of his campaign, pledging to eradicate illegal deforestation by 2030. Official data show deforestation in the first quarter of 2026 at its lowest rate this decade. However, the president faces criticism from activists over his support for a major offshore oil exploration project near the mouth of the Amazon. Alencar also warned that the possible arrival of a “super El Niño” this year could extend the dry season and raise the risk of forest fires once again.