The first year of President Lula's (PT) third term was marked by a significant reduction in deforestation in the Amazon, while the numbers recorded a record increase in the Cerrado.
Data from the Deter system, from the National Institute for Space Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais or INPE), released on Friday (5), shows that in 2023, an area of 5,151.6 km² was lost in the Amazon rainforest, a 50% reduction compared to the previous year. In the Cerrado, the rate was 7,828.2 km², representing a 43% increase.
Overall for the year across both biomes, vegetation loss reached 12,979.8 km²—a decrease of almost 18% compared to 2022 (15,740.5 km²).
The Cerrado index is the highest for the January to December period since 2019, the first complete year in the historical series. In the Amazon, the rate is the lowest since 2018 when 4,951.4 km² of deforestation were recorded.