SAO PAULO, Aug 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon last year plunged to its lowest level in a decade, according to official data released Friday, the latest decline under Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government.

The world's largest tropical rainforest had 2,874 square kilometers (1,110 square miles) cleared from August 2025 to July 2026, marking a nearly 37 percent drop from the previous year, the National Institute for Space Research said.

The group began tracking deforestation via satellite starting in 2016.

Left-wing president Lula, who will seek re-election in October, has vowed to end illegal deforestation by 2030.

"The numbers indicate that, if we maintain the current pace, with the seriousness we've shown and by providing the necessary resources, we can achieve this," Lula said as the new data was presented in Sao Paulo.

Deforestation surged in the Amazon under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, peaking at 12,500 square kilometers in 2022.

"In this country we take the climate issue very seriously, because we are not denialists. We are watching things happen," Lula said Friday in reference to extreme climate events.

Lula faces the former president's son, Flavio Bolsonaro, in the upcoming race. The veteran leftist is slightly ahead in the latest polls.

But environmentalists have criticized his support for a large-scale oil exploration project off the Amazon coast.