Brazil Reports Record Low Deforestation in Amazon and Cerrado

Overview

• The Prodes 2026 results, presented Friday, show the Amazon lost 3,335 km² of native forest and the Cerrado lost 5,516.69 km² in the 12‑month cycle, the smallest annual totals in each biome’s monitoring series.
• The government and Inpe credit steep declines since 2022 to a 2023 policy shift that restored monitoring budgets, reactivated the PPCDAm and increased Ibama field actions, with 76,095 inspections and 25,101 infraction notices recorded between 2023 and 2026.
• Inpe will get R$147.6 million from the Fundo Amazônia to build SIM‑Biomas, a project to merge Prodes and Deter, automate image analysis with machine learning, expand near‑real‑time alerts to all biomes and produce 30‑meter fire maps and new risk indicators.
• Deforestation remains concentrated: Pará, Mato Grosso and Amazonas together accounted for roughly 75% of Amazon loss, and Matopiba states such as Maranhão and Tocantins led Cerrado clearing, where much loss is legally authorized under the Código Florestal.
• Experts warn that better monitoring and faster alerts will only reduce clearing further if enforcement turns remote detections into sustained field action and if policy tools address legal clearance in the Cerrado and link data to credit and land‑use controls.