Brazil sees unprecedented decline in Amazon deforestation as elections approach

The Amazon rainforest is a vital buffer against climate change - but deforestation was rampant under former president Jair Bolsonaro.

By Iohn Wells, US Correspondent and Joel Ginto, BBC News

Brazil's government says deforestation rates in the country's Amazon and savannah regions have hit record lows ahead of a presidential runoff in which the future of the rainforest is a key issue.

Left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to end deforestation in the Amazon by 2030 when he came to power three years ago. It had increased under his right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

On October 25, Lula will face Bolsonaro's son Flavio in a runoff in what polls suggest is a neck-and-neck race. Flavio is expected to continue his father's policies if he wins, although he has pledged to fight organized crime in the Amazon.

Satellite data show that in the year to July 2026, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon fell by 41.8 percent — the biggest drop since records began in 1988. The fall in the Cerrado, Brazil's savannah region, was 23.8 percent.

The Amazon rainforest - the largest in the world - is an important buffer in the global fight against climate change, and 60% of it is located in Brazil.

Why is the Amazon rainforest so important? What in the podcast world

Jair Bolsonaro promoted mining on indigenous lands in the Amazon, and deforestation increased while cutting resources for forest protection.

During Bolsonaro's presidency from 2019 to 2022, the Amazon lost almost 60% more forest land. AFP news agency reported citing official data from the past four years.

Lula reversed Jair Bolsonaro's policies and saw deforestation rates fall to their lowest level in six years in his first year in office. Lula intensified environmental monitoring and penalties for illegal logging.

"Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030," he said in a post on Friday.

Tropical rainforests like the Amazon are home to millions of species. When healthy, they absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, which warms the planet and helps keep the Earth cool.

But they are under increasing pressure from decades of deliberate land clearing for agriculture and logging, as well as climate change that scientists warn could create the conditions for wildfires.

Brazil's environment minister, Joao Paulo Capobianco, described the decline in Amazon deforestation as "absolutely stratospheric."

This is a "historic achievement" for Brazil, said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima.

This shows that "with political will, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions can be avoided," Astrini said.