Brazil’s Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level on record

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell to its lowest level since official records began in 1988, according to data released by the National Institute for Space Research. The PRODES satellite programme recorded 3,335 square kilometres of forest loss from August 2025 through July 2026, about 42% less than in the preceding period.

The previous low was 4,571 square kilometres in 2011–12. In the Cerrado savanna, clearing fell by roughly 24% to 5,517 square kilometres, also the lowest figure in a series dating to 2001. Reuters and the Associated Press linked the decline to restored enforcement, satellite-based sanctions and financing incentives under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The figures are an important result, not evidence that the threat has ended. Deforestation and other land-use change remain Brazil’s largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions, and illegal clearing, fire and legislative pressure continue. The release also comes before the 25 October presidential runoff, making the durability of enforcement a live political issue. The record should therefore be read as evidence that policy can reduce forest loss, while the longer-term test is whether monitoring, prosecutions and sustainable economic alternatives survive the next administration.