By Lisandra Paraguassu and Andre Romani
BRASILIA, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest declined to the lowest level on record in the 12 months through July, according to data released by Brazilian space research agency Inpe on Friday.
Some 3,335 square kilometers (1,287.65 square miles) of Amazon jungle were destroyed in the 12 months through July, an all-time low in the historical series that goes back to 1988. It was a fall of about 42% from the preceding period.
The previous lowest level for Brazil’s Amazon deforestation was reached in 2011-2012, when 4,571 square kilometers were destroyed. In the mid-90s, the figure had reached a record high of nearly 30,000 square kilometers destroyed a year.
The data released on Friday, which is produced yearly by Inpe’s PRODES satellite monitoring program, is measured from August to July as there is less cloud cover in the middle of the year to obscure deforestation on satellite images.
“The figures released today are a historic achievement,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary at climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima, adding they show the world that “with political will, it is possible to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.”
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in 2023 pledging to end deforestation by 2030, after it soared to its highest in 15 years during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula will face Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in a presidential election runoff on October 25, after the younger Bolsonaro performed better than expected in the first round.
The senator pledged in his manifesto to strengthen environmental oversight in the Amazon, prioritizing areas under the greatest pressure from deforestation and wildfires. He said law enforcement would focus on organized crime rather than on extractive workers and small farmers.
In Brazil’s Cerrado savanna, deforestation fell about 24% in the period, to some 5,517 square kilometers, also the lowest on record in a series going back to 2001, Inpe data showed.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Andre Romani in Sao Paulo; Editing by Fernando Cardoso and Nia Williams)
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