Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1988, according to official data released by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, known as Inpe.
Inpe's Prodes satellite programme, which measures forest clearance from August to July due to lower cloud cover in mid-year, recorded 3,335 square kilometres (1,288 square miles) of forest cleared in the 12 months through July. That represents a drop of approximately 42 percent compared to the previous year.
The previous record low was 4,571 square kilometres (1,765 square miles), set in 2011-12. Annual losses peaked at nearly 30,000 square kilometres (nearly 11,600 square miles) in the mid-1990s.
Since 2022, the year before President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office, the deforestation rate has fallen by 71.2 percent. The decline is attributed to stronger enforcement measures, greater environmental monitoring, and increased state investment in environmental agencies.
"It's an absolutely stratospheric drop... it's like a dream," Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco said at a news conference in Brasilia.
Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima, called the figures "a historic achievement" and said they demonstrate that "with political will, it is possible to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions."
President Lula wrote on X: "Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030."
The results stand in sharp contrast to the 2019-2022 presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, during which Amazon deforestation rose by approximately 59.5 percent compared to the previous four years. The Amazon lost about 11,600 square kilometres per year on average during that period. Bolsonaro cut resources for forest protection agencies, reduced enforcement of environmental penalties, and promoted mining in indigenous lands.
Deforestation has fallen every year since 2022.
The Brazilian states with the worst deforestation records in the latest reporting period were Para, accounting for 33.9 percent of all Amazon deforestation, followed by Mato Grosso at 25.5 percent and Amazonas at 15.7 percent. Even in those states, figures were down by more than 45 percent on the previous year. Roraima was the only state where deforestation increased, rising by 0.4 percent.
Outside the Amazon, deforestation in the Cerrado savanna also fell, dropping approximately 24 percent to between 5,516 and 5,517 square kilometres, its lowest level since records began in 2001. Over the past four years, Cerrado deforestation has fallen by 48.4 percent.
The data was released days before a presidential election run-off scheduled for October 25, in which Lula faces Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of the former president. Polls show the two candidates running neck and neck.
Flavio Bolsonaro has pledged in his manifesto to strengthen environmental oversight in the Amazon, focus enforcement on organised crime rather than extractive workers and small farmers, and end illegal deforestation by 2029. He has also praised his father, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest following a conviction for coup plotting.
Former environment minister Marina Silva has warned that Flavio Bolsonaro would attempt to reverse the environmental gains of the current administration.
Tropical rainforests such as the Amazon are home to millions of species and, in a healthy state, absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide, playing a significant role in regulating the global climate. Scientists warn that decades of deliberate land clearance for agriculture and logging, combined with climate change, have created conditions increasingly conducive to wildfires.
