Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon hits nearly four-decade low, authorities say

Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 40 years, according to figures released Friday. Between August 2025 and July 2026, 3,335 square kilometers of forest were cleared, a decline of nearly 42 percent over the previous year and the lowest level since records began in 1988, official statistics showed.

"It's an absolutely stratospheric drop...it's like a dream," Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco told a press conference in the capital Brasilia. The data was also hailed by Lula, whom polls show running neck-and-neck with conservative senator Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of the October 25 runoff. Lula, a veteran left-wing leader, returned to office promising to end unlawful forest clearance by ranchers and illegal miners.