In Brazil, there is one statistic that is as eagerly awaited as the unemployment rate or the GDP growth: The progress of deforestation in the Amazon. Results published on Wednesday, November 6 by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research show that, between August 2023 and July 2024, 6,288 square kilometers (km2) of forest were destroyed – 30.6% less than the previous year and a nine-year low.You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it. The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly forbidden.This number confirms the trend that began with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's return to power. In 2021, the worst point for deforestation during President Jair Bolsonaro's term (2019-2023), 13,000 km2 of jungle were being cleared in the Brazilian Amazon – twice the current level. The restoration of public environmental protection agencies, which had been weakened and gutted during Bolsonaro's far-right administration, has produced rapid, positive and tangible effects. The impacts of this policy have been felt in every region, particularly in Rondônia, one of the hardest-hit states in Brazil, where deforestation has now dropped by 62.5%. It has also benefited other ecosystems, such as the fragile Cerrado savannas, considered to be the "water tank" of Latin America. After several years of worrying increases, just 8,174 km2 of vegetation were destroyed there between