Brazil sees record fall in Amazon deforestation as key election looms — SkimNews
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- Brazil's government reported Amazon deforestation fell 41.8% in the year to July 2026 — the largest drop since records began in 1988 — while the Cerrado savanna region saw a 23.8% decline.
- Jair Bolsonaro's presidency (2019–2022) saw the Amazon lose nearly 60% more forest land than the prior four years, after he promoted mining in indigenous lands and slashed forest-protection resources.
- Lula reversed those policies after taking office three years ago, tightening environmental monitoring and penalties for illegal logging and reaching a six-year deforestation low in his first year.
- Flavio Bolsonaro will face Lula in the October 25 run-off, with polls showing a neck-and-neck race; he is expected to continue his father's policies but has pledged to fight organized crime in the Amazon.
- Marcio Astrini of Observatorio do Clima called the decline an 'historic achievement' proving political will can curb deforestation, while Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco separately described it as 'absolutely stratospheric.'
Why it matters: Lula's reversal of Bolsonaro-era policies — tighter monitoring and harsher logging penalties — drove the first sustained deforestation decline in years, with his environment minister calling it 'absolutely stratospheric.' With Flavio Bolsonaro expected to continue his father's approach in the October 25 run-off, Lula's zero-deforestation-by-2030 pledge is now a direct ballot question.
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