Sindhi (sindi) cattle in a pasture with the Amazon rainforest in the background. Mato Grosso, Brazil, 2020. Photo Credit: Lucas Ninno/Getty Images
Environment BrazilNumbers Don’t Lie: Curbing Deforestation in the Amazon Is Proving Successful!
Despite constant threats from climate change, wildfires, and degradation, the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest has dropped by more than 30% this year, its lowest level since 2015.
In the Cerrado, Brazil’s vast savannah, deforestation decreased by 25.7%, its first decline in five years.
According to the country’s national space research institute – Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais in Brazilian Portuguese – the Brazilian Amazon lost 6,288km2 by July 31, 2024, and the loss rate remained stable in the three months since. Affected by climate change, compounded by accumulated deforestation and forest degradation, the Amazon suffers from destabilizing ecosystem and rainfall patterns, as well as biodiversity loss, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, is prioritizing conservation efforts to protect the Earth’s most significant natural lung. Brazil contains about two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest.
