Amazon deforestation down nearly 60% compared to July last year: Brazil

Deforestation was down by at least 60 per cent in July, compared to the same month last year in the Brazilian Amazon, environment minister Marina Silva told The Guardian.

The official figures, based on theDeter satellite alert system will be released in the coming days butpreliminary data suggests there has been an incredible turnaround for the Amazon, regarded as the world's lungs.

The results come ahead of a regional summit, scheduled to take place in Belém where eight rainforest nations:Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, including Brazil are participating. The aim of the summit is to prevent Amazon - South America's largest biome - from hitting a calamitous tipping point.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has largely managed to overturn the damage and destruction that his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro caused to the Amazon ecosystem during his tenure in office.

A report released last month stated that deforestation wasdown 34 per cent in the first six months of the year. While under Bolsonaro last year,therainforest shrank by 4,000 square kilometres - an area, roughly the size of Rhode Island, the figure was down to 2,650 square kilometres under Lula's tenure.

Additionally, the data showed there was a 41 per cent decline in deforestation alerts in June, regarded as the start of the dry season when the phenomenon picks pace.

Lula's poll plank

One of the biggest poll planks of Lula during the presidential election trail was to protect the Amazon. Since coming to power, his government has imposed hefty fines to the tune of over $400 million.

The fines imposed saw an uptick of 160 per cent from the annual average figure for the same period during Bolsonaro's four tumultuous years in office. Additionally, 2,255 farms were slapped with embargoes for environmental wrongdoing.

“The effort of reversing the curve of growth has been reached. That is a fact: we reversed the curve; deforestation isn’t increasing,”saidJoao Paulo Capobianco, deforestation control secretary at Brazil's Environment Ministry.

The challenge, however, is far from over. Due to the onset of ElNiño, several parts of Brazil have recorded sweltering temperatures. This has worsened drought and fire risks in Amazon over the coming months.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: