Brazil's Amazon Deforestation Falls to Its Lowest Level Since Records Began in 1988

Brazil's space research agency, Inpe, said on Friday, 16 October 2026 (24 Mehr 1405), that 3,335 square kilometres of Amazon forest were cleared in the 12 months through July 2026, about 42 percent less than a year earlier and the lowest figure since records began in 1988. The previous record low was 4,571 square kilometres, between 2011 and 2012, and annual losses peaked at nearly 30,000 square kilometres in the mid-1990s. According to Al Jazeera, deforestation has fallen every year since 2022 and is down 71.2 percent over four years; the AFP news agency attributes the drop to greater monitoring and stiffer penalties for illegal logging.

Clearing in the Cerrado savanna also fell by about 24 percent to 5,517 square kilometres, the lowest since its records began in 2001. The figures came days before Brazil's presidential run-off on 25 October (3 Aban), in which Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces Flavio Bolsonaro, with polls showing them neck and neck.