Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado savanna at lowest rate ever recorded.
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research reported that deforestation in both the Amazon and the Cerrado savanna fell to its lowest recorded level in the 12 months from August 2025 to July 2026.
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has released satellite data showing that deforestation in both the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savanna reached its lowest recorded level in the 12 months from August 2025 to July 2026. Mongabay reported the figures as Brazilians voted in a runoff election.
In the Amazon, clearing fell to 3,335 square kilometers (1,288 square miles). That is a drop of nearly 42% from the previous year and the lowest figure since satellite monitoring began in 1988. For comparison, deforestation in 2021 reached its highest level since 2008, with more than 13,200 square kilometers (5,097 square miles) cleared, nearly four times the latest total.
University of São Paulo climate scientist Carlos Nobre described the result to Mongabay in an audio message. "Without a doubt, what we are seeing is very positive," he said. Nobre added that he believed it was the lowest deforestation in the Amazon's history since the military dictatorship began heavy clearing in the mid-1970s. Brazil did not keep year-on-year deforestation data during the dictatorship, which ruled from 1964 to 1985, but INPE estimates suggest an average of 21,130 square kilometers (8,158 square miles) was cleared each year between 1978 and 1988.
The Cerrado, a tropical savanna and one of Brazil's main agricultural regions, also recorded its lowest deforestation since monitoring of that biome began in 2001. According to INPE, clearing there fell to 5,516.69 square kilometers (2,130 square miles) between August 2025 and July 2026, a 24% decline from the previous year.
Environment and climate change minister João Paulo Capobianco said in a statement, "The reduction in deforestation is not an isolated episode, nor is it the result of luck." He attributed the sustained decline to the use of science to guide policy and to cooperation among federal, state and municipal governments. Three Amazonian states that have historically had some of the country's highest deforestation rates each recorded large declines: 45.3% in Pará, 46.7% in Mato Grosso and 46.4% in Amazonas.
At a Glance
- Amazon deforestation fell to 3,335 square kilometers between August 2025 and July 2026, down nearly 42% from the prior year.
- The Amazon figure is the lowest since INPE satellite monitoring began in 1988; the 2021 total exceeded 13,200 square kilometers.
- Cerrado deforestation fell 24% to 5,516.69 square kilometers, the lowest since monitoring of that biome began in 2001.
- Deforestation dropped 45.3% in Pará, 46.7% in Mato Grosso and 46.4% in Amazonas.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.