An unprecedented MapBiomas survey of quilombola territories in Brazil shows that they are among the areas with the least deforestation in the country. Between 1985 and 2022, the loss of native vegetation in these territories was 4.7% compared to 17% in private areas. There were 240,000 hectares of native vegetation suppression in those 38 years. Together, they are home to 3.4 million hectares of native vegetation - 0.6% of the national total.

In all, quilombola territories that have been granted titles or are in the process of being granted titles occupy 3.8 million hectares, or 0.5% of the national territory. There are 494 Quilombola Territories according to the IBGE's 2023 Census: 30% already titled and 70% in the process of being titled. This difference is reflected in environmental conservation: while in the territories already titled, the loss of native vegetation between 1985 and 2022 was 3.2%, in the areas in the process of being titled, this percentage was 5.5%. On average, anthropic use occupies 14% of the area.  

The majority of quilombola territories (181) are in the Amazon, followed by the Atlantic Forest (136), Caatinga (94), Cerrado (63) and Pampa (20). The Amazon also leads in terms of area: in it, quilombola territories occupy 2.5 million hectares. The Atlantic Forest, which ranks second in terms of the number of quilombola territories, is in fourth place in terms of their total size: 278,000 hectares. The Caatinga (550,000 hectares) and Cerrado (500,000 hectares) come second and third, respectively. In the case of the Pampa, there are only 6.5 thousand hectares.

>> Native vegetation cover in quilombola territories in Brazil

The quilombola territories' native vegetation is mainly in the Amazon (73%), Cerrado (12%) and Caatinga (10%). Between 1985 and 2022, the quilombola territories located in the Caatinga lost the most native vegetation (72,600 hectares), followed by those in the Amazon (58,400 hectares) and Cerrado (36,700 hectares). In the Atlantic Forest, it was possible to identify a gain of 7,800 hectares of native vegetation in the quilombola territories located in this threatened biome, which has less than a third covered with native vegetation.

The new MapBiomas data puts the Quilombola Territories in the lead in preserving native vegetation cover in Brazil, alongside the Indigenous Territories. The latter occupy 13% of the national territory, but contain 19% of all the country's native vegetation and only 1% of the loss of native vegetation in the last three decades has occurred in these areas.