Brazil reports record-low Amazon deforestation before presidential run-off

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1988, according to official satellite data released days before a presidential run-off in which the rainforest’s future is a major issue.

Brazil’s space research agency, Inpe, recorded 3,335 square kilometres (1,288 square miles) of forest cleared in the 12 months through July 2026, a drop of 41.8% from the previous year. The earlier record low was 4,571 square kilometres (1,765 square miles) in 2011-12, according to Inpe figures reported by Al Jazeera.

Deforestation also fell in the Cerrado, the savanna region south of the Amazon. Clearance there dropped 23.8% to 5,517 square kilometres (2,130 square miles), the lowest level since records began in 2001, Al Jazeera reported.

“It’s an absolutely stratospheric drop…it’s like a dream,” Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco said at a news conference in Brasilia. Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima, called the figures “a historic achievement.” They show that “with political will, it is possible to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office in 2023, has pledged to end illegal deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. “Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030,” he wrote on X after the figures were released. His government has increased environmental monitoring and stiffened penalties for illegal logging.

Lula faces Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in the October 25 run-off. Polls show a close race. The candidates have set out different approaches to protecting the forest: Flavio Bolsonaro’s manifesto pledges stronger environmental oversight in the Amazon, enforcement focused on organised crime rather than extractive workers and small farmers, and an end to “illegal deforestation” by 2029, according to Al Jazeera.

Flavio Bolsonaro has also praised his father for opposing what the former president called a “radical environmental agenda,” Al Jazeera reported. Jair Bolsonaro promoted mining on Indigenous lands during his 2019-2022 presidency, while resources for forest protection were cut and forest clearance rose. The Amazon lost an average of about 11,600 square kilometres (4,480 square miles) of forest a year during his term, nearly 60% more than in the preceding four years.

Amazon deforestation has fallen each year since 2022 and is down 71.2% over four years, according to figures reported by Al Jazeera. Inpe’s annual measurement runs from August to July, when reduced cloud cover makes satellite monitoring easier.

About 60% of the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, lies in Brazil. Its forests absorb carbon dioxide and support millions of species, but have faced decades of clearance for agriculture and logging, alongside pressures linked to climate change.