BRASILIA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest fell 11.08% in the 12 months through July compared with the same period a year earlier, hitting an 11-year low, government data showed on Thursday.

The figures were released just days before the country hosts the United Nations climate summit known as COP30, in a win for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who aims to tout his government's environmental achievements at the conference.

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Lula has pledged to end all deforestation in the country by 2030. Since the beginning of his term in 2023, Amazon destruction has been cut by half.

The annual report, produced by Brazilian space research agency Inpe, showed that roughly 5,796 square kilometers of the Amazon were destroyed in the period, the lowest figure since 2014.

"Even in my best-laid plans I would never have imagined that we would reach this point with a 50% reduction in deforestation," Environment Minister Marina Silva told a press conference.

In Brazil's Cerrado savanna, deforestation fell 11.49% in the period to 7,235 square kilometers, a six-year low and the second straight decline after four years of rising deforestation - which included Lula's first year in office.

The government's success in reducing deforestation is seen as contrasting with some other moves criticized by environmentalists, such as its backing of state-run oil firm Petrobras' (PETR3.SA) , opens new tab plans to drill near the mouth of the Amazon River.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/brazils-amazon-deforestation-falls-11-12-months-through-july-2025-10-30/