Record-breaking Decrease: Amazon Deforestation Plummets Over 20% to 5-Year Low
Amazon deforestation declines by 223% in the past year, reaching the lowest levels in 5 years President Lula da Silva's commitment to curbing rainforest destruction shows promising results
Deforestation in the Amazon region of Brazil decreased by 22.3% in the 12-month period ending in July, according to government data released on Thursday. This reduction in destruction is attributed to the efforts of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been working towards fulfilling his promise to address the environmental damage that occurred under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. The data from the Brazilian space research agency Inpe reveals that approximately 9,000 square kilometers (3,475 square miles) of Amazon jungle were cleared during this period, compared to 11,568 square kilometers in the previous year.
Since 2018, prior to Bolsonaro taking office, this is the smallest cleared area. The Amazon jungle is renowned as the largest rainforest in the world, and safeguarding it is crucial in combatting climate change.
According to Marcio Astrini, the leader of advocacy group Climate Observatory, this achievement is noteworthy and solidifies Brazil's commitment to the climate agenda.
However, this year's deforestation rate continues to be nearly double the record low level of forest destruction in 2012, which is far from Lula's commitment to achieve zero deforestation by 2030. Lula made it a priority to stop deforestation upon taking office, and he increased the enforcement of environmental regulations after witnessing a significant rise in destruction during Bolsonaro's presidency, during which environmental agencies were weakened.
During the tenure of the conservative ex-president, there was an unprecedented increase in devastation caused by ranchers, land speculators, and miners, reaching its peak in 15 years.
The Inpes PRODES satellite monitoring program provides annual data that is considerably more precise than their weekly figures published by the DETER alert system.
The official annual period is measured from August to July as there is less cloud cover in the middle of the year to obscure deforestation on satellite images.
