The numbers behind the record

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research collates the Prodes satellite data series, and its latest reading puts annual forest clearance in the Amazon at 3,335 square kilometres, down 41.8% on the previous year. That is the lowest level since measurements began in 1988.

• •The new record low beats the previous one by 1,236 sq km - an area equivalent in size to Rio de Janeiro.
• •Since the start of the Lula administration in 2022, the deforestation rate has slowed by 71.2%, according to the National Institute for Space Research data.

The neighbouring Cerrado savanna biome also posted a landmark: its lowest annual deforestation since 2001, at 5,516 sq km. Over the past four years, Cerrado clearance has fallen by 48.4%.

Where the forest was cleared

The destruction remains concentrated in a handful of states, though each of the largest saw steep declines against the previous year.

• •Pará registered 33.9% of all Amazon deforestation in the year.
• •Mato Grosso accounted for 25.5%.
• •Amazonas registered 15.7%.
• •Even in those three states, figures were down more than 45% on the previous year.

Roraima was the only state where deforestation grew, rising 0.4%; it is a Bolsonaro stronghold.

What drove the decline

The reduction has been attributed largely to stronger enforcement measures and state investments in environmental agencies. Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, said: "The figure makes it clear that putting an end to forest destruction in Brazil is entirely possible."

Astrini added that the choice ahead of the country is between moving toward the end of deforestation or toward the end of the forest.

The record low lands days before Brazil's presidential runoff on 25 October between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, two candidates with sharply different visions for the country.