{"id":114137,"date":"2025-11-02T14:19:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/114137\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T14:19:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:19:21","slug":"brazils-amazon-deforestation-falls-11-even-as-fires-surge-to-record-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/114137\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil\u2019s Amazon deforestation falls 11% even as fires surge to record levels"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Deforestation in Brazil\u2019s Amazon rainforest<\/a> fell by 11% from August 2024 to July this year, the government said Thursday, even as wildfires tracked by Brazil\u2019s space agency surged to record levels amid a severe drought.<\/p>\n

According to Brazil\u2019s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), 5,796 square kilometers (2,238 square miles) of forest were cleared between August 2024 and July 2025 \u2014 an area nearly four times the size of New York City, but still a significant drop from the previous year and the lowest level in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

The Environment Ministry said the drop in deforestation reflects stronger environmental enforcement,<\/a> expanded satellite monitoring and renewed coordination among federal agencies<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The results come just weeks before Brazil hosts the COP30 U.N. climate summit in the Amazon city of Belem, where the country will be under pressure to demonstrate progress toward its 2030 goal of ending illegal deforestation.<\/p>\n

At the same time, INPE reported that fire detections in the Amazon from January through October 2025 were the highest since 2010. Widespread burning and prolonged drought have blanketed parts of northern Brazil in smoke, forcing flight cancellations and prompting health warnings in states such as Amazonas and Para. <\/p>\n

Experts say the fires \u2014 often used to clear already-deforested land \u2014 risk undermining recent conservation gains.<\/p>\n

Ibama, Brazil\u2019s environmental enforcement agency, said during the announcement that it carried out 9,540 inspections this year, a 38% increase from 2024, issuing 2.85 billion reais ($520 million) in environmental fines this year and seizing more than 4,500 pieces of machinery and livestock tied to illegal clearing. <\/p>\n

Officials said over 75 civil lawsuits were filed jointly by Ibama and the Attorney General\u2019s Office against deforestation and illegal burning cases.<\/p>\n

M\u00e1rcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a coalition of Brazilian civil-society groups, told The Associated Press the latest data show both progress and contradiction in Brazil\u2019s climate policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great news \u2014 it shows the zero-deforestation target can be achieved if the government and society as a whole work together,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it also exposes the government\u2019s contradictions: while one part delivers solutions like reducing deforestation, another is delivering the problem, approving oil drilling projects in the Amazon River basin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenpeace Brazil called the results positive but said lasting progress will depend on permanent safeguards and stronger global cooperation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe result is encouraging, but there\u2019s still room to improve,\u201d said Ana Clis Ferreira, spokesperson for Greenpeace\u2019s Zero Deforestation campaign in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s essential to institutionalize protections that don\u2019t depend on political cycles and to implement robust action plans for periods of greater climate vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Deforestation in Brazil\u2019s Amazon rainforest fell by 11% from August 2024 to July this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[81351,81352,575,23812,4442,4142,273,41061,63,16731,23711,111,139,69,147,23813,4143],"class_list":{"0":"post-114137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-amazon-river","9":"tag-ana-clis-ferreira","10":"tag-brazil","11":"tag-central-america","12":"tag-climate","13":"tag-climate-and-environment","14":"tag-environment","15":"tag-environmental-conservation","16":"tag-fires","17":"tag-forests","18":"tag-latin-america","19":"tag-new-zealand","20":"tag-newzealand","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-science","23":"tag-south-america","24":"tag-wildfires"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}