Forest Degradation Is Undermining Progress on Deforestation in the Amazon

作者：Guilherme Mataveli, Lucas Andrigo Maure, Alber Sánchez, Débora Joana Dutra, Gabriel de Oliveira, Matthew W. Jones, Cibele Hummel do Amaral, Paulo Artaxo, Luiz E. O. C. Aragão · 发表于：Global Change Biology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1111/gcb.70209 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management、Economic and Environmental Valuation、Land Rights and Reforms

The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be held in Belém, provides a unique opportunity for Brazil to affirm its commitment to protecting Amazon forests and to showcase leadership in aligning ambitious climate action with global conservation goals. Encouraging progress has been made in controlling deforestation in the Amazon (Figure 1a–d). The 2024 preliminary Brazilian Amazon official deforestation increment estimate was 5816 km2, 27.5% below 2023 and a staggering 54.2% below 2022 (INPE 2025). This is the lowest annual deforestation increment in a decade and 26.4% below the average of the 2008–2024 period (INPE 2025). Such achievement is closely tied to the restoration of command and control in the Amazon, highlighted by the reinstatement of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm) (MMA 2023). Nevertheless, deforestation is not the only threat facing Amazon's forests. Beyond deforestation, forest degradation represents a significant yet often overlooked threat to tropical forests. While deforestation is a binary process referring to the complete removal of tree cover, leading to a permanent land-use change, forest degradation is the reduction of a forest's capacity to supply ecosystem services, leading to a loss of ecological value, where tree cover remains but undergoes structural and functional changes, ultimately impairing resilience and long-te...