Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level since 1988
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Brazil’s Amazon rainforest experienced a 41.8% decrease in deforestation over one year, reaching a record low since systematic monitoring began in 1988.
The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported that between August 2025 and July 2026, 3,335 square kilometers of forest were destroyed, compared to 5,731 square kilometers in the previous period. This reduction of nearly 2,400 square kilometers represents a significant improvement for the vital ecosystem, important for biodiversity, water regulation, and climate stability.
The 2026 result follows a 71.2% reduction in the annual rate of deforestation compared to 2022, when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva first took office as president. This improvement came with strengthened territorial controls, increased resources for environmental protection agencies, and greater efforts to combat illegal activities like unauthorized logging and mining. INPE uses a satellite system called PRODES to track forest loss annually, providing the official measurement of deforestation in Brazil.
Despite this progress, over 3,300 square kilometers of forest were still lost during the best year on record, an area larger than the Aosta Valley in Italy. The state of Pará remains the most heavily deforested area, with 1,130 square kilometers lost, but even there, deforestation decreased by 45.3%. Brazil’s Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna, also recorded its lowest level of deforestation since monitoring began in 2001, with a 23.8% reduction in the same period.
The upcoming presidential election on October 25th will determine the future of these policies, as candidates Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro hold differing views on natural resource management.
