Representational file photo showing Macaws sitting on a tree at the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File Photo
Brasilia: Brazilian Amazon deforestation has dropped to its lowest level in nearly four decades, according to official data 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 welcomed by current Brazilian president 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 four years ago promising to end illegal forest clearance by farmers and illegal miners, which had soared under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, the father of Flavio.
"Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030," he reiterated Friday on X, after the deforestation data was released.
Brazil is home to approximately 60 percent of the world's largest rainforest, which plays a crucial role in absorbing greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
The official deforestation rate is measured using the "Prodes" satellite system, operated by the National Institute for Space Research.
It has been steadily decreasing in the Amazon since 2022, with a cumulative drop of 71.2 percent over four years.
