Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon drops by nearly 31% compared to previous year

A river borders an area that has been illegally deforested by land-grabbers and cattle farmers in an extractive reserve in Jaci-Parana, Rondonia state, Brazil, July 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Agua Clara, Brazil — Forest loss in Brazil’s Amazon dropped by 30.6 per cent compared to the previous year, officials said Wednesday, the lowest level of destruction in nine years.

In a 12-month span, the Amazon rainforest lost 6,288 square kilometres (2,428 square miles), roughly the size of the U.S. state of Delaware.

The results, announced in Brazil´s presidential palace, sharply contrast with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s predecessor, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who prioritized agribusiness expansion over forest protection and weakened environmental agencies. Deforestation hit a 15-year high during his term.

Deforestation in Brazil's vast savannah, known as the Cerrado, decreased by 25.7%, the first decline in five years. The area destroyed reached 8,174 square kilometres (3,156 square miles). Located in central Brazil, it is the world’s most biodiverse savannah but has fewer legal protections than the Amazon.

Despite the success in curbing Amazon deforestation, Lula's government has been criticized by environmentalists for backing projects that could harm the region, such as the pavement of a highway that cuts from an old-growth area, oil drilling in the mouth of the Amazon River and building a railway to transport soy to Amazonian ports.

Brazil’s deforestation monitoring system tracks Aug. 1 to July 30, so Wednesday's report doesn’t capture the destruction from the past few months, as a historic drought opened the way to a surge in forest fires that burned an area larger than Switzerland.

Much of the damage from fires is classified as degradation, not clearcutting deforestation, as the fire in the Amazon rainforest spreads mostly through leaves on the ground, and not through treetops. But the full impact will be assessed in the following months through further satellite monitoring. Government officials already fear that the deforestation rate may increase next year as the Amazonian city of Belem prepares to host the annual U.N. climate talks, known as COP30.

The Amazon, an area twice the size of India, holds the world’s largest rainforest, about two-thirds of it within Brazil. It stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change. The Amazon thus prevents the climate from warming even faster than it would otherwise. The basin also holds about 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water and biodiversity includes 16,000 known tree species.