Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits lowest level on record

Data show a ۴۲ percent drop in forest clearance from a year earlier, giving Lula a boost before the election run-off.

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level since records began in ۱۹۸۸, according to official figures that give a boost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva days before a presidential run-off.

Brazil’s space research agency, Inpe, said on Friday that ۳,۳۳۵ square kilometres (۱,۲۸۸ square miles) of forest were cleared in the ۱۲ months through July, about ۴۲ percent less than the year before.

The previous record low was ۴,۵۷۱ sq km (۱,۷۶۵ sq miles) in ۲۰۱۱-۱۲, while annual losses peaked at nearly ۳۰,۰۰۰ sq km (nearly ۱۱,۶۰۰ sq miles) in the mid-۱۹۹۰s, according to Inpe’s Prodes satellite programme, which measures from August to July because cloud cover is lower in mid-year.

“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 of the climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima called the figures “a historic achievement” and said they show 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 ۲۰۳۰.”

Lula took office in ۲۰۲۳ pledging to end illegal deforestation by ۲۰۳۰, after clearing soared to a ۱۵-year high under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. The Amazon lost about ۱۱,۶۰۰ sq km (about ۴,۴۸۰ sq miles) a year on average during Bolsonaro’s ۲۰۱۹-۲۰۲۲ term, almost ۶۰ percent more than in the previous four years.

Deforestation has fallen every year since ۲۰۲۲ and is down ۷۱.۲ percent over four years. The AFP news agency attributes the drop to greater monitoring and stiffer penalties for illegal logging.

Lula faces Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in the election run-off on October ۲۵, with polls showing them neck and neck.

Flavio 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 ۲۰۲۹.

He has also praised his father, who is serving a ۲۷-year sentence under house arrest for coup plotting, for opposing what he calls a “radical environmental agenda”.

Deforestation in the Cerrado savanna, south of the Amazon, also fell by about ۲۴ percent, to ۵,۵۱۷ sq km (۲,۱۳۰ sq miles), the lowest since records began in ۲۰۰۱.