Amazon deforestation down sharply under Brazil's Lula: govt

Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon fell by one-third in the first six months of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration compared to the same period of last year, the government said Thursday. The 33.6 percent drop is based on satellite images captured by the National Institute of Space Research, which said that from January through June a total of 2,649 square kilometers of rainforest were felled. 

That's compared to the 3,988 square kilometers that came down in the first six months of 2022, when former president Jair Bolsonaro was still in power as president. During Bolsonaro's period in office from 2019 to 2022, deforestation of the Amazon shot up 75 percent compared to the average of the previous decade.