According to Brazil’s national space agency Inpe, only 500 sq km (193 sq miles) of rainforest were cleared there in July of this year, a 66% decrease from the same month previous year.
The decrease is a much-needed boost for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration, which when he took office in January committed to put a stop to deforestation by the year 2030.
Under Jair Bolsonaro, his predecessor, there has been an increase in forest destruction.
The leader of the extreme right encouraged mining on indigenous territory in the Amazon, and at the same time as resources for protecting the forest were being depleted, forest clearances skyrocketed.
Brazil is home to 60% of the Amazon rainforest, which is an essential buffer in the worldwide fight against climate change.
The damage caused by Mr. Bolsonaro’s four years in office had to be stopped when Lula took office, and the data published by the satellite agency shows that this is happening.
According to Inpe, less forest was cleared during the first seven months of 2023 than during the same period in 2022.
In the days leading up to an Amazon conference with leaders of nations that share the largest rainforest in the world, the decline is significant and marks an astonishing turnaround.
He contended that commitments made at international summits were all too frequently broken, but he insisted that “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Data provided by Inpe demonstrates that people participating in illegal logging are being pursued by the authorities.
Over $400 million (£315 million) in fines have been assessed in the first seven months of this year, an increase of nearly 150%.
Although it will be difficult to undo the harm done to the Amazon, the reduction in deforestation revealed by Inpe on Thursday will reassure the rest of the world that progress has been made in a very short period of time.
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