As of 2020, the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at a rate of approximately 2.6 million hectares per year (InfoAmazonia, 2025). By 2022, the region had lost an estimated 17% of its original forest cover (WWF, 2022)—equivalent to around 460,000 square miles (Britannica).

Deforestation rates can fluctuate significantly depending on political and economic conditions, as illustrated by the chart below from Mongabay.

(Chart Mendes, 2022)

You’ve probably already heard that deforestation is bad—and that’s certainly true. But that’s not the main message of this introduction. Instead, the goal here is to show that deforestation is complex.

For example, deforestation rates vary by country, though the largest contributor by far is Brazil. This is made clear in another chart from Mongabay.

Chart Radwin, 2022)

There are also multiple causes of deforestation, with cattle ranching being the leading one, as shown in yet another Mongabay chart.

(Chart: Mongabay)

However, these causes are often interconnected. For instance:

• Logging for wood extraction accounts for only a small percentage of direct deforestation, but it often serves as a precursor to land conversion for agriculture or grazing.

• Soy production, which falls under large-scale agriculture, can incentivize cattle ranching by pushing cattle operations into forested areas (Killeen, 2021).

These are just two examples of how economic activities interact to drive forest loss. I’ll explore these connections in more detail in the following sections.

References:

(February 27, 2025) Deforestation in the Amazon: past, present and future InfoAmazonia

https://infoamazonia.org/en/2023/03/21/deforestation-in-the-amazon-past-present-and-future/

(November 8, 2022) The Amazon in crisis: Forest loss threatens the region and the planet

We must act now to protect the Amazon from catastrophic and irreversible damage World Wildlife Fund

https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-amazon-in-crisis-forest-loss-threatens-the-region-and-the-planet

Amazon Rainforest Britanica

https://www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-River/Soils

Mendes, Karla. (December 2, 2022) Despite 11% drop in 2022, Amazon deforestation rate has soared under Bolsonaro Mongabay

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/despite-11-drop-in-2022-amazon-deforestation-rate-has-soared-under-bolsonaro/

Radwin, Maxwell. (March 21, 2022) 2021 Amazon deforestation map shows devastating impact of ranching, agriculture Mongabay

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/2021-amazon-deforestation-map-shows-devastating-impact-of-ranching-agriculture/

Charts and graphs about the Amazon rainforest Mongabay

https://worldrainforests.com/amazon/charts.html

Killeen, Timothy. (2021) A perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness White Horse Press