Brazil's Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level on record

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon fell to its lowest level since records began in 1988.

Brazil's space research agency, Inpe, reported 3,335 sq km of forest cleared in the 12 months through July, about 42% less than the year before, according to Al Jazeera. The year-on-year fall of 41.8% was described as the biggest drop since records began, according to the BBC.

The previous low was 4,571 sq km in 2011-12. Annual losses peaked at nearly 30,000 sq km in the mid-1990s.

Inpe tracks losses from August to July through its Prodes satellite programme, which uses the August-to-July window because cloud cover is lower in mid-year.

Clearance has fallen every year since 2022 and is down 71.2% over four years. The Amazon lost about 11,600 sq km per year on average during Jair Bolsonaro's 2019-2022 term, almost 60% more than in the previous four years. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office as president in 2023 pledging to end illegal deforestation by 2030.

Deforestation also eased in the Cerrado, the savanna region south and east of the Amazon. It fell by about 24% to 5,517 sq km, the lowest since records there began in 2001. In 2026, the state of Pará accounted for 33.9% of all Amazon deforestation in Brazil, according to The Guardian.

The figures were released days before a presidential run-off election on October 25, in which Lula faces Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Flavio Bolsonaro pledged in his manifesto to end illegal deforestation by 2029. Lula wrote on X that Brazil's goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030.