Record low deforestation in Brazilian Amazon

 

TT-AFP

 

Published 08.07

 

We are not climate deniers. We see what is happening," said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who promises to stop illegal deforestation by 2030. Archive photo. Photo: Jorge Saenz/AP/TT

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has decreased to the lowest level in a decade.

Deforestation peaked in 2022 under former right-wing radical president Jair Bolsonaro. Since leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took over, the trend has begun to reverse and deforestation now continues to decline.

Between August 2025 and July 2026, 2,874 square kilometers of rainforest disappeared, a decrease of almost 37 percent from the previous year, according to Brazil's space research institute. Lula has promised to stop illegal deforestation by 2030.

“The figures show that we can reach that goal if we keep the current pace,” Lula said when the new figures were presented in São Paulo.

Environmental organizations are also criticizing Lula for supporting oil exploration off the coast of the Amazon.

Lula is running for re-election in October against the former president’s son, Flávio Bolsonaro.