Brazil unveils ambitious plan to conserve 80% of amazon by 2030, but implementation challenges loom

Brazil has finally released its long-awaited National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, arriving nearly a year after the UN’s 2024 deadline. The comprehensive strategy, published on December 29, 2025, sets forth ambitious goals for protecting the world’s most biodiverse nation through 2030.

As home to 10-15% of all known species and nearly two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest, Brazil plays a crucial role in global conservation efforts. The country also supplies about one-tenth of the world’s food, making the balance between ecological protection and economic development particularly complex. The new plan’s centerpiece is a commitment to “conserve” 80% of the Brazilian Amazon by 2030, which includes expanding protected areas, Indigenous territories, and other managed lands where large-scale development is prohibited.

The strategy was developed through extensive consultation with hundreds of scientists, Indigenous representatives, civil society groups, and government officials, aligning with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. There are promising signs of progress: Amazon deforestation has declined for five consecutive years, reaching its lowest level in more than a decade in 2025.

However, questions remain about the plan’s long-term durability, especially given Brazil’s history of policy shifts with changing administrations. The country was among roughly 85% of nations that missed the original UN deadline, raising concerns about implementation capacity. Success will depend not only on political commitment but also on sustained funding and cooperation between federal, state, and local authorities in one of the world’s most ecologically critical regions.