Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon falls to all-time low

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest declined to the ​lowest level on record in the 12 months through ⁠July, according to data released by Brazilian space research agency Inpe on Friday (October 16, 2026).

Some 3,335 square kilometres (1,287.65 square miles) of Amazon jungle were destroyed ‌in the 12 months through July, an all-time low in the historical series that goes back to ‌1988. It was a fall of about 42% from ‌the ⁠preceding period.

The previous lowest level for Brazil's Amazon ⁠deforestation was reached in 2011-2012, when 4,571 square kilometres were destroyed. In the mid-90s, the figure had reached a record high of nearly 30,000 square kilometres ​destroyed a year.

The data ‌released on Friday (October 16, 2026), which is produced yearly by Inpe's PRODES satellite monitoring program, is measured from August to July as there is less cloud cover in the middle of ‌the year to obscure deforestation on satellite images.

"The figures ​released today are a historic achievement," said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary at climate advocacy group Observatorio do ⁠Clima, adding they show the world that "with political will, it is possible to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions."

President Luiz Inacio ‌Lula da Silva took office in 2023 pledging to end deforestation by 2030, after it soared to its highest in 15 years during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Mr. Lula will face Mr. Bolsonaro's eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in a presidential election runoff on October 25, after the younger Mr. Bolsonaro performed ‌better than expected in the first round.

The senator pledged in his manifesto ​to strengthen environmental oversight in the Amazon, prioritizing areas under the greatest pressure from deforestation and wildfires. ⁠He said law enforcement would focus on organized crime rather than on extractive ⁠workers and small farmers.

In Brazil's Cerrado savanna, deforestation fell about 24% in the period, to some 5,517 ‌square kilometres, also the lowest on record in a series going back to 2001, Inpe data showed.