Deforestation fell by 30.6 percent in the year-to-year period beginning in August 2023, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). During that time, 6,288 square kilometers (2,427 square miles) of forest were destroyed, which INPE Director Gilvan Oliveira said was “the lowest result in the last nine years.”

Over the last century, the Amazon rainforest – which covers nearly 40 percent of South America – has lost about 20 percent of its area to deforestation, due to the spread of agriculture and cattle ranching, logging and mining, and urban sprawl. Scientists warn that continued deforestation will put the Amazon on track to reach a point where it will emit more carbon than it absorbs, accelerating climate change.

In addition to the Amazon, destruction of the Cerrado, the most species-rich savanna in the world, which is located in central Brazil, was reduced by 25.7 percent or 8,174 square kilometers, INPE reported.

Deforestation dramatically worsened under Lula’s far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration saw Amazon deforestation shoot up 75 percent compared to the average of the previous decade.