Brazil on track for record low in Amazon deforestation

Amazon deforestation in Brazil has fallen by 37 percent compared to the previous year, placing the nation on course for its lowest level of forest loss since satellite monitoring began nearly 40 years ago.

According to data from the Deter monitoring system – a near-real-time tool used to direct enforcement and detect land-clearing activity – Amazon deforestation in the 12 months leading up to July amounted to 2,874 square kilometres, a landmass slightly larger than Luxembourg. This figure marks the lowest level recorded since the current series launched in 2015, according to multiple meda reports.

Brazil, which holds roughly two-thirds of the world’s largest rainforest, is expected to confirm its lowest annual deforestation rate since 1988 later this year. The final official figure is anticipated in October or November, sourced from the higher-resolution Prodes analysis. Both the Deter and Prodes systems are managed by the National Institute for Space.

Amazon deforestation: crackdown

The current decline in Amazon deforestation follows a concerted crackdown initiated by President Lula da Silva since the start of his third term in 2023. This effort reversed a 15-year peak in destruction recorded during the tenure of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. 

Over the first three-and-a-half years of President Lula’s administration, total Amazon deforestation has reached 19,642 square kilometres, representing a 41 percent reduction relative to the 2019-2022 period under the previous government. 

[See more: Portugal’s Buçaco National Forest earns global recognition as a therapeutic destination]

The Deter figures are an early-warning measure rather than Brazil’s final annual accounting: they help enforcement agencies identify fresh clearing in near real time, while the Prodes system uses higher-resolution imagery for the official annual rate. 

The downward trend in Amazon deforestation is nevertheless significant. The latest result was 55.6 percent below Deter’s average for the preceding 10 monitoring cycles, according to data reported by Brazilian media. President Lula has pledged to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030; whether the projected record-low Prodes figure confirms this progress later in the year will be a key test of that target.