Satellite data puts Brazil on track to see its lowest deforestation rate since 1988, when historical records began, reports environmental news outlet Mongabay.
Brazilian space agency Inpe released data last Thursday showing deforestation rates in the Amazon plummeted 35 percent in the first six months of the deforestation year, which begins 1 August. Between that date last year and 31 January, forest clearing totalled just 1,325 square kilometres, down from 2,050 square kilometres during the same period the previous year.
Deforestation in the last 12 months offers a similarly positive picture, dropping 11 percent from the previous year to a total of 3,770 square kilometres. Both totals mark the lowest for their respective periods since 2014.
The figures come from Inpe’s DETER satellite system, a rapid alert tool widely regarded as a reliable indicator of short-term trends, if less precise than annual surveys. The latter rely on the higher-resolution imagery provided by the agency’s PRODES system. It reported an 11-percent drop in deforestation for the 12-month period ending July 2025, totalling 5,796 square kilometres, the lowest in 11 years.
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Taken together, the consistency across multiple datasets suggests that ramped up enforcement and policy changes implemented under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration are continuing to deter deforestation.
Speaking at a press conference announcing the data, Environment Minister Marina Silva emphasised the importance of local cooperation in curbing forest clearing, particularly the Union with Municipalities programme. “Of the 81 municipalities with the highest deforestation rates, 70 have already made this commitment,” she said, adding that resources from the Amazon Fund are being deployed to support enforcement and prevention.
“There is an expectation that we will reach, in 2026, the lowest deforestation rate in the historical series in the Amazon if we continue with these efforts,” Silva remarked.
