Satellites show Brazil cleared less Amazon forest this year than any year since 1988

The story

Brazil just posted its best year for the Amazon since anyone started keeping score. Government satellite tracking shows about 3,335 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared between August 2025 and July 2026. That is down from 5,731 the year before, a drop of almost 42%.

The tracking program began in 1988, and this is the lowest number it has ever recorded. The old low, set back in 2012, was beaten by more than 1,200 square kilometers. The country's tropical savanna, known as the Cerrado, also hit a record low, with clearing down about 24%.

Nearly every Amazon state improved. Pará, Mato Grosso and Amazonas, which usually account for the most damage, each cut their losses by around 45%. Roraima was the one state that held roughly flat.

The timing matters. President Lula promised to end Amazon deforestation by 2030 after clearing climbed under Jair Bolsonaro. On October 25 he faces Bolsonaro's son Flávio in a runoff that polls call extremely close, and the future of the forest is one of the big issues on the ballot.