Deforestation in Brazil's Legal Amazon fell 42% in the latest measurement cycle to 3,335 km², the lowest figure since 1988, when the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) began tracking forest loss by satellite. In the cerrado, the vast tropical savanna that covers much of central Brazil, the loss of native vegetation dropped 24% to 5,516 km², also the floor of that biome's series, which began in 2013. The numbers come from Prodes, the country's official deforestation monitoring system, and were released on Friday (16). They cover the period from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026, the reference window Brazil uses for this count.
The Amazon result sits 27% below the previous record of 4,571 km² in 2012, according to Folha de S.Paulo. The Legal Amazon, a region spanning nine states, had not posted such a low rate in nearly four decades. In the cerrado it was the third straight annual decline; G1 described the figure as the lowest since 2001.
What is behind the drop
Between 2022 and 2026, clearing fell by a combined 71% in the Amazon and 48% in the cerrado, a period in which the Environment and Climate Change Ministry was led by Marina Silva during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's third term. Experts cited by Folha point to the deforestation control plans launched in 2023, the rebuilding of staff and budgets at enforcement agencies, and financial restrictions on deforesters, such as blocking their access to rural credit.
"This historic achievement belongs to the Brazilian people. As the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil, deforestation translates into ever more intense and frequent climate extremes, causing floods, landslides, heat waves and droughts," said Marina, who left the ministry to run for a Senate seat and was not elected.
Even at the series' lowest point, the bill remains heavy: combined, the two biomes lost some 8,851 km² of native vegetation in one year, an area almost six times the size of the city of São Paulo. Images published by Folha show a freshly cleared plot in Autazes, in Amazonas state, photographed this month: a reminder that clearing continues, even at a slower pace.
The announcement came with an investment in monitoring itself. Also on Friday, Inpe confirmed it will receive R$147.6 million from the Amazon Fund (Fundo Amazônia) for the SIM-Biomas project, which will use artificial intelligence to merge Prodes with Deter, the rapid-alert system, and extend daily monitoring to the Caatinga, the Atlantic Forest and the Pampa, G1 reported. The institute, based in São José dos Campos (São Paulo state), feeds the emissions inventories Brazil submits under the Paris Agreement, tying each spared square kilometer in the country's North to global climate goals.