Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped 41.8 percent over the past year to 3,335 square kilometers, reaching its lowest level since satellite measurements began in 1988, according to government data released Friday. The milestone provides a boost for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of an October 25 presidential runoff.
The Prodes satellite data series, administered by the Brazilian space research agency Inpe, recorded the forest clearance between August 2025 and July 2026. The total represents a decrease of roughly 42 percent compared with the previous 12-month period according to official figures. The previous record low for the region was 4,571 square kilometers during the 2011–12 cycle, while annual losses peaked near 30,000 square kilometers in the mid-1990s.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco addressed reporters in Brasília on Friday following the release of the figures. It’s an absolutely stratospheric drop…it’s like a dream,
he said.
Policy Shifts and Enforcement Measures Under Lula
The sharp reduction contrasts with the tenure of former President Jair Bolsonaro. During Bolsonaro’s 2019–2022 presidency, Amazon deforestation surged by about 60 percent, with more than 45,000 square kilometers cleared over the four-year term. Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, deforestation has fallen 71 percent since taking office in January 2023 for a third, non-consecutive term.
Brazilian Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level on record as pivotal vote looms for President LulaNew data shows forest clearance fell by 71.2% since 2022, the final year of Bolsonaro administration. Story by mehttps://t.co/eLWeYfc7RF
Upon returning to office, Lula revived the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon, known as PPCDAm. Originally launched in 2004 during his first administration, the blueprint had been shelved under Bolsonaro. The current administration brought back the officials who originally developed the plan, appointing Marina Silva to lead the environment ministry until her resignation in April to run for Congress, and naming Capobianco, her former deputy, as minister.
Authorities credited the decline to stronger monitoring and stiffer penalties for illegal logging, alongside state investments in environmental agencies and subsidized credit for sustainable businesses in the region. The government also proposed barring properties with illegal deforestation from receiving bank loans.
Political Stakes Ahead of the October 25 Runoff
The environmental milestone arrives just days before the October 25 presidential runoff election. Lula faces Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of the former president, with polls showing the two candidates neck and neck. In the first round of voting, Flávio Bolsonaro received 47 percent of the vote, while Lula received 45 percent.
The two candidates offer sharply divergent visions for the rainforest. Lula has pledged Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030,
while his campaign platform includes forest restoration goals. Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged in his manifesto to strengthen environmental oversight, focus enforcement on organized crime rather than small farmers and extractive workers, and end illegal deforestation by 2029 — a year ahead of the current federal target. His campaign has defended his father’s legacy while arguing for modernized environmental laws.
Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, noted that while the figure makes it clear that putting an end to forest destruction in Brazil is entirely possible, everything depends on the election result. He added that the country will decide whether to move toward the end of deforestation or toward the end of the forest.
Astrini called the new figures a historic achievement
and said they demonstrate that political will can curb greenhouse gas emissions. Cristiane Mazzetti of Greenpeace Brazil warned that the progress remains vulnerable, noting that the upcoming legislature is expected to be hostile to environmental rules and that future policies will depend entirely on the outcome of the runoff.
Regional Variations and Cerrado Savannah Reductions
Regionally, the highest rates of Amazon forest clearance during the past year occurred in Pará, which accounted for 33.9 percent of the total, followed by Mato Grosso at 25.5 percent and Amazonas at 15.7 percent. Even in those states, clearance levels dropped by more than 45 percent compared with the previous year. Roraima was the only Amazonian state where the cleared area increased, rising by 0.4 percent.
Outside the Amazon, the neighboring Cerrado savannah region recorded its lowest annual deforestation since records began in 2001, falling by about 24 percent to 5,516 square kilometers. Over the past four years, deforestation in the Cerrado has dropped by 48.4 percent.
Despite the gains in clear-cutting reduction, environmental researchers note that approximately 40 percent of the Amazon suffers from degradation caused by wildfires, logging, and drought, outpacing direct clearing in recent years. Scientists warn that a strong El Niño cycle could bring hotter, drier conditions in 2026 and 2027, intensifying wildfire risks across the biome.