According to space agency data, deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has dropped to its lowest level in six years.

Brazil cleared 500 sq km (193 sq miles) of rainforest in July – 66% fewer than last year, according to the national space agency Inpe.

Since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January, he has committed to ending deforestation by 2030.

Jair Bolsonaro’s predecessor was responsible for a surge in rainforest destruction.

As a result of the far-right leader’s promotion of mining in indigenous lands in the Amazon, forest clearances skyrocketed as resources to protect the forest were eliminated.

Approximately 60% of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil, which is a crucial buffer against climate change.

The satellite agency’s figures show that things are improving since Lula came to power promising to undo the damage caused by Bolsonaro’s four-year tenure.

According to Inpe, the area of forest cut down in the first seven months of 2023 was smaller than that razed during the same period a year earlier.

It is an impressive turnaround just days before an Amazon summit with leaders of countries that share the world’s largest rainforest.

The whole world should watch the meeting next week, Lula said on Wednesday.

As he pointed out, promises made at global summits are often unfulfilled, but where there is a will, there is a way.

As a result of the data released by Inpe, the authorities are also taking action against illegal loggers.

There was an increase of almost 150% in fines in the first seven months of this year, topping $400 million (£315 million).

Inpe’s announcement on Thursday of a decline in deforestation will send a reassuring message to the world that progress has been made in a relatively short period of time in the Amazon.