Brazil's Amazon Deforestation Hits Lowest Level on Record
Is this drop proof that political will works or is it spin masking record fires?
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Above: An aerial view shows a fire-affected area in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil on Oct. 15. Image credit: Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty Images
The Facts
- Brazilian Amazon deforestation fell to its lowest level since monitoring began in 1988, new data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research-operated PRODES satellite monitoring program shows.
- The figures released on Friday indicate that 3,335 square kilometers (1,288 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared in the 12 months through July, about 42% below one year earlier and below the previous record low of 4,571 square kilometers (1,764 square miles) set between August 2011 and July 2012.
- Official data show Amazon deforestation has fallen by more than 70% since Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2023, after rising about 60% under former President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula said on X on Friday that he aims to end illegal deforestation by 2030.
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The Spin
Pro-government narrative
Stopping the chainsaws in the Brazilian Amazon was never impossible; it just took a government willing to fund enforcement and back the agencies doing the work. Every acre left standing keeps carbon out of the air and keeps farmland productive, so the old trade-off between forests and profit was always a myth. Political will delivers results.
Government-critical narrative
Fires have raged to record levels in the Brazilian Amazon on this government's watch, and no official data on deforestation can clear the smoke choking families in Manaus. With the presidential runoff election just days away, the timing of this release is suspicious, especially as Lula-appointed officials lack the credibility to decide what counts as truth.
