Deforestation alerts in the first half of this year reached their lowest level since 2017 for the Amazon. In the Cerrado, a biome where destruction had been increasing during Lula's government, this rate fell for the first time since 2020.
The data comes from the Deter system of Inpe (National Institute for Space Research).
In the first six months of 2024, Inpe reports that 1,639 km² were destroyed in the Amazon, the smallest area since 1,332 km² in 2017, a 38% reduction compared to 2023.
In the Cerrado, destruction had been increasing in the first half since 2020, reaching a record 4,396 km² in 2023. For the first time in four years, this rate fell to 3,724 km², a 15% reduction.
Combined, the area lost in both biomes this year is equivalent to more than three times the size of the city of São Paulo.