MAAP, Amazon Deforestation Watch
MAAP, the Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program, is an initiative of the nonprofit Amazon Conservation that uses satellite images to report on urgent deforestation and fires in the Amazon (MAAP).
Image: NASA/Jessica Meir (iss074e0492148, Ucayali River, Peru, April 15, 2026).
Last reviewed: 2 sources cited
Satellites spot new clearing in the Amazon, and MAAP reports explain what is behind it.
MAAP says it monitors deforestation and fires across 100% of the Amazon Basin (MAAP).
Explain Like I'm 10
- The Amazon rainforest is huge, and it is hard to see where trees are being cut.
- Satellites take pictures from space, and MAAP experts compare them to find new clearings.
- Then they publish simple reports so governments and everyone else can act.
The Five W's of MAAP
Who
Amazon Conservation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, with partners in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.
Source: Amazon Conservation, About MAAP
What
Near-real-time monitoring that finds urgent deforestation, identifies its causes and publishes easy-to-read reports.
Where
It began in the Andean Amazon, with an initial emphasis on Peru, and now reports across the Amazon Basin.
Source: Amazon Conservation, About MAAP
Why
To give policymakers, law enforcement, researchers and the public the facts to help drive action against illegal deforestation (MAAP).
Connected Solutions
- Landsat 9 (NASA/USGS) Part of the Landsat record of Earth's land that began in 1972.
Impact Statement
Nonprofit solution · active
MAAP combines satellite alerts built on Landsat, A tool that sends out radio waves and listens for the echoes. From space it can see the ground through clouds, day or night. Glossary from Sentinel-1 and high-resolution imagery to verify forest loss and find its drivers (Amazon Conservation).
Source: Amazon Conservation, About MAAP
For Further Information: Amazon Conservation, About MAAP
MAAP has documented causes of deforestation including gold mining, oil palm, cacao, small-scale agriculture, logging roads and hydroelectric dams (Amazon Conservation).
How This Saves People & the Planet
For People
Its reports serve policymakers, law enforcement, civil society, researchers, the media and the general public (MAAP).
Source: MAAP, Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program
For Nature
MAAP looks for deforestation inside protected areas and isolated indigenous communities, and in hotspots like the gold-mining zone of Madre de Dios (Amazon Conservation).
Source: Amazon Conservation, About MAAP
Support Amazon Conservation
Support the team behind MAAP.
DonateHelp This Work
Links go straight to the organization. Saving Planets doesn't receive any of the money.