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In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of th... [3233 chars]

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Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation... [3451 chars]

Brazil reported a 61.4% drop in Amazon deforestation in May and said the data undermines US claims that forest destruction justified new tariffs.

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Brazil reports drop in Amazon deforestation rates, pushing back on US tariff accusations

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South America... [3490 chars]

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates. Brazilian officials on Thursday thus pushed back on accusations used by the United States to justify tariffs on Brazil.

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SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups

Colombia passes law to track cattle and keep deforestation-linked beef out of supply chains

Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in...

Brazil Reports Drop in Amazon Deforestation Rates, Pushing Back on US Tariff Accusations

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
Related Articles
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however,
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's

Brazil reported a 61.4% drop in Amazon deforestation in May and said the figures undermine claims by the Trump administration that forest destruction justified new tariffs on Brazilian imports.
Amazon deforestation in May dropped 61.4% from May 2025 levels
Brazil says deforestation figures counter US tariff justification
Lula vows to bring Amazon deforestation down to zero by 2030
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Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks in front of a screen displaying a 61.4% decrease in Amazon deforestation compared with May 2025 during a visit to the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country. In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials […]

SAO PAULO — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are "unreasonable" and that "burden or restrict U.S. commerce." The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Trump proposed 25% tariffs on Brazil on June 2. U.S. officials cited illegal deforestation.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates.
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates. SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems | K-DAWN

SAO PAULO -- Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Photo credit: AP
SAO PAULO: Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.Still, 370 square kilometres (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same period the previous year.On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are "unreasonable" and that "burden or restrict U.S. commerce." The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.Capobianco said that the deforestation figures "debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs." President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.Lula said that the Trump administration lied when it first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit."And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government," the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences."It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world," he said.Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then-President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticised for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.

SAO PAULO: Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional…

Significance
Agricultural expansion typically involves clearing forests to create new croplands, but this approach may be self-defeating. We demonstrate that Amazon deforestation substantially reduces crop productivity in Brazil's established agricultural regions through atmospheric moisture transport. The largest soybean yield declines occurred over 1,500 km from deforestation frontiers, in Brazil's agricultural heartlands. This creates a destructive feedback loop where forest clearing reduces yields, driving demand for more deforestation. Our findings challenge assumptions about agricultural expansion benefits and highlight that forest conservation is essential for global food security.
Abstract
Rapid agricultural expansion has driven forest loss worldwide. Deforestation reduces evaporation, potentially decreasing precipitation and crop yields far beyond agricultural frontiers. Here, we quantified the teleconnection impacts of Amazon deforestation on precipitation and soybean yields across Brazil during 1982–2018, using a Lagrangian moisture tracking model. Our analysis indicates that tree evaporation contributes one-third of growing-season precipitation, yet recent deforestation decreased seasonal precipitation by 6 to 30% across Brazilian soybean states, with replacement land covers providing limited compensation for the losses. Although precipitation declines were most pronounced near Amazonian deforestation, the largest yield reductions (227 kton, or ∼6% loss) occurred in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Cumulatively, deforestation-driven precipitation declines resulted in a total soybean production loss of ∼700 kton. These findings reveal that expanding agriculture into forests undermines yields in established croplands, potentially creating a feedback where yield losses drive demand for additional forest clearing. Under continued deforestation and climate change, this feedback is likely to intensify, threatening Brazilian rainfed agriculture into the future.

Rapid agricultural expansion has driven forest loss worldwide. Deforestation reduces
evaporation, potentially decreasing precipitation and crop yie...

Amazon deforestation reduces precipitation and soybean yields across Southern Brazil

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems.

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
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The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
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'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
Advertising
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first…

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.

Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn't sourced from deforested land.
The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture.
'This is the most powerful tool for determining whether the meat people consume comes from deforested areas,' said representative Juan Carlos Losada, one of the law's sponsors, in a post on X.
About 54% of Colombia's total land area is covered by forest, that's roughly 60 million hectares (148 million acres). Deforestation has ebbed and flowed in recent years, declining in 2023, spiking in 2024 and then declining again in 2025. Cattle are always one of the main drivers.
The country has over 29.7 million heads of cattle, according to last year's estimates from the Colombian Federation of Cattle Ranchers.
To better regulate the industry, lawmakers tried to pass traceability legislation in 2021 and 2022 but failed to move it through Congress. Another version took too long to reach a final debate in the senate, and expired in 2024.
The effort began around the same time that the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was passed. Once implemented, the law will require that companies trading with the EU demonstrate their cattle and other commodities weren't sourced from deforested land.
The law allows officials to establish 'high surveillance zones' in deforestation hotspots. It includes the ability to implement special control measures and additional monitoring, registration, and control of cattle movements and inventories.
The work will be carried out by the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA), the country's agriculture and livestock agency, in coordination with the National Council to Combat Deforestation.
The law also requires different parts of the government to integrate existing monitoring and traceability systems and take steps to improve coordination.
Over the next six months, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must also develop regulations for a certification that identifies producers whose products aren't linked to deforestation. Though, the law doesn't specify the requirements needed to obtain the deforestation-free certification.
Cattle producers aren't the only group with new responsibilities. Over the next two years, slaughterhouses, meat processing facilities, livestock auction houses, cattle traders, and live-cattle exporters must also implement due diligence policies and best practices for ensuring their products aren't linked to deforestation.
Conservation groups said if the law works as intended, the country could make unprecedented progress in the fight against illegal deforestation.
'Colombia is setting an example for the region and for the rest of the world,' said Susanne Breitkopf, the director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency, in a statement. 'This law can ensure that beef sold in Colombian supermarkets does not come from deforested rainforest areas or from places where deforestation finances illegal economies.'
Banner image: Cattle graze on land near the Indigenous community of Maticurú. Photo by Edilma Prada Céspedes.

Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn't sourced from deforested land. The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture. 'This is […]

Colombia passes landmark cattle traceability law to combat illegal deforestation

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon biome fell by 23.5% in 2025 compared with 2024, according to a new report from MapBiomas, a Brazil-based land-use mapping project.
Reductions in deforestation were recorded across the board in all of Brazil's biomes, culminating in a 21% nationwide decrease in forest loss. In total, nearly 985,000 hectares (2.4 million acres) of forested land was cut down in 2025, the report found. Of this, 289,478 hectares (715,315 acres) was deforested in the Amazon.
The decline in deforestation likely reflects a combination of stronger environmental enforcement, improved satellite monitoring and growing market demands for sustainable production, Nathalia Crusco, a researcher with MapBiomas, wrote to Mongabay.
Only 5% of deforested land overlapped with enforcement actions or clearing authorizations in 2019, compared with 65% over the 2019-2025 period, she added, based on MapBiomas data.
Deforestation also fell by nearly 17% in the Cerrado savanna, where agriculture expansion is most aggressive. More than half of the Cerrado's native vegetation has already been cleared. And while the rate of deforestation in the Cerrado declined, the majority of forest clearing in Brazil, 55%, took place in the Cerrado savanna, the report said.
Much of the reduction in deforestation was within Indigenous territories. Clear-cut deforestation on Indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 25% in 2025, according to a technical memo shared with Mongabay by Brazil's Indigenous agency, Funai. Funai's Remote Monitoring Center compiled the recent report. A total of 30,128 hectares (74,450 acres) of clear-cutting on Indigenous land was recorded last year, compared to 40,178 hectares (99,280 acres) in 2024.
'We've verified a significant reduction,' the authors of the report wrote. 'The [clear-cutting deforestation] 2025 data are the lowest since 2016.'
Despite the overall decline, sharp increases were recorded on some Indigenous lands. In the Batelão Indigenous territory, in the state of Mato Grosso, clear-cut deforestation increased by roughly 10,000%, from around 5.5 hectares (13 acres) in 2024 to more than 567 hectares (1,400 acres) in 2025.
In December 2025, one of the leaders of the Batelão territory told Mongabay that Indigenous people could not access their land, that it had been taken over by soy, cotton and corn farms, as well as pastures.
'We want Terra Batelão back. We are fighting for it, but there are only promises — and so far, nothing,' Indigenous representative Porokó Kayabi told Mongabay Brasil.
In the Pantanal, the world's largest and most biodiverse wetland, deforestation fell by nearly half between 2024 and 2025, and nearly 80%, if compared to 2023 levels. MapBiomas satellite monitoring detected around 12,260 hectares (30,300 acres) of deforested land in the Pantanal biome in 2025, an area slightly larger than the city of Barcelona in Spain.
Much of the Pantanal deforestation in 2024 can be traced back to huge wildfires that scorched habitat for jaguars (Panthera onca), hyacinth macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) and caimans, among many more species.
Banner image: Soy plantations amid savanna vegetation in Maranhão state, Brazil. Image courtesy of Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil.

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon biome fell by 23.5% in 2025 compared with 2024, according to a new report from MapBiomas, a Brazil-based land-use mapping project. Reductions in deforestation were recorded across the board in all of Brazil's biomes, culminating in a 21% nationwide decrease in forest loss. In total, nearly 985,000 hectares (2.4 million acres) […]

Amazon deforestation declines as Brazil reduces forest loss nationwide

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
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Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional…

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
Credit: Gezer Amorim from Pexels
In 2025, the area deforested in the country fell below 1 million hectares in a year for the first time since 2019. A total of 984,794 hectares of native vegetation were cleared during 2025, a reduction of 20.6% compared with 2024.
This marks the third consecutive year of decline. On average, Brazil lost 2,698 hectares of native vegetation per day in 2025, or 112 hectares per hour. Over the last seven years, 10.9 million hectares of land have been deforested—an area larger than Ireland.
The annual area deforested in Brazil is still the largest in the world. There is still some way to go to achieve the national target of halting and reversing the loss of native vegetation in the country by 2030. The good news is that when quality information, public transparency and concrete enforcement measures come together, deforestation can be reduced.
This is a key finding of Rad 2025, an annual report on deforestation in Brazil launched in May 2026 by MapBiomas, a global, multi-institutional network formed by universities, not-for-profit organizations and technology companies. This network monitors changes in land cover and land use in different territories and their impacts, and is now active in 14 countries across South America and Indonesia.
The report shows a reduction in deforestation across all Brazilian biomes (large, distinct geographic regions characterized by their specific climate, soil, and the unique plants and animals that have adapted to live there). The Pantanal saw the largest decrease, at 48.4%. In the Amazon, deforestation fell by 23.5%. The Cerrado also fell, but remains the biome with the largest deforested area in the country: 540,614 hectares in 2025, equivalent to 54.9% of all national deforestation.
The Amazon and the Cerrado together accounted for more than 84% of the deforested area in 2025. The Matopiba region—comprising the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, in the center and northeast regions of Brazil—accounted for 40% of the country's loss of native vegetation and 70% of the deforestation recorded in the Cerrado. The region with the largest deforested area that year was Canto do Buriti, in Piauí, with 20,877 hectares.
The report also confirms that deforestation in Brazil is predominantly linked to agricultural expansion. In 2025, this factor accounted for 99% of the deforested area. This does not mean that all agricultural activity is linked to deforestation. On the contrary: Brazil has millions of producers who comply with the law and farm on land that has already been cleared. But it does mean that, when native vegetation is cleared, it is in this sector that the main pressure is concentrated.
In 2019, when MapBiomas Alerta began operating, only around 5% of the deforested area in Brazil had seen any kind of action taken by the regulatory bodies—such as embargoes on the use of the property, preventing planting, harvesting and marketing, fines, inspections or valid clearance authorizations. By 2025, this percentage had reached 65%.
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This change did not happen by chance. It is the result of a combination of satellite detection systems, technical validation of alerts and the production of reports. These reports incorporated high-resolution imagery, were cross-referenced with public registers and were then effectively communicated to federal, state and municipal environmental agencies.
Technology does not replace public officials. It expands their capacity to act. Brazil is a vast country. There are not enough inspectors to be physically present in every place where vegetation is being cleared. But it is possible to know, almost in real time, where the clearing has taken place, the size of the area, which rural property is involved, whether there is a valid authorization, and whether the area coincides with Indigenous land, a conservation unit, a legal reserve, a permanent preservation area or another relevant territorial zone.
This is what allows us to prioritize operations, guide onsite inspections, apply administrative measures and prevent the damage from continuing to spread.
It is therefore a cause for concern that the lower house of the Brazilian Congress has recently passed a bill restricting the adoption of precautionary measures by environmental agencies, including injunctions based on remote monitoring.
The bill is yet to be sent to the Senate. Its supporters argue that the measure seeks to ensure the right to a defense and prevent errors. The right to a defense is essential and must always be guaranteed.
But timing matters.
Deforestation is not a static offense. When an area begins to be cleared illegally, every day without action can mean more trees cut, more fires, more degradation, more illegal occupation and greater difficulty in recovery. The preliminary injunction exists precisely to halt the damage while the administrative process runs its course.
Restricting the use of satellite imagery for this type of measure would be like banning the use of speed cameras to monitor speeding on the roads. Radar does not convict anyone on its own. It records technical evidence, including date, time, location and a known method. The person fined can defend themselves, contest the charge, submit documents and demonstrate any error. But the existence of this right does not prevent the state from using technology to detect and curb potentially illegal conduct.
With deforestation, the logic is similar. Satellite imagery is not an opinion. It is an objective record of the Earth's surface. When combined with technical validation, time series, before-and-after images and cross-referencing of territories, it becomes one of the most robust tools available for environmental enforcement.
Challenges remain
The Rad 2025 report shows that the country is managing to reduce deforestation, but it also highlights where the challenge remains.
Almost 2,700 hectares a day are still being cleared. More than half of Brazil's municipalities still have at least one deforestation event detected in the year. Strong pressure remains on the Cerrado, on the Matopiba region and on unauthorized private land.
Scaling back the use of technology in enforcement seems to run counter to the available evidence. The progress observed since 2019 coincides with the expanded use of public data, satellites, validated alerts and remote measures of control. This is not about replacing due process, but about allowing it to be informed by rapid, transparent and verifiable evidence.
Brazil now has one of the most comprehensive systems in the world for monitoring deforestation. This capability did not emerge overnight. It is the result of decades of public investment, science, inter-institutional cooperation and technological innovation. Using it effectively is a strength for the country.
The challenge now is to turn the 2025 decline into a lasting trend. To achieve this, it will be necessary to make progress in areas where deforestation remains concentrated, strengthen the role of the states, increase the accountability of those who deforest illegally, and provide security for those who produce in compliance with the law.
The worst course of action would be to reduce the government's ability to see what is happening on the ground. Because, in the fight against deforestation, seeing quickly is essential to acting in time.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

In 2025, the area deforested in the country fell below 1 million hectares in a year for the first time since 2019. A total of 984,794 hectares of native vegetation were cleared during 2025, a reduction of 20.6% compared with 2024.

Amazon deforestation is falling, but progress is stalling

Real-time index price for Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOWI), along with buy or sell indicators, analysis, charts, historical performance, news and more

NEW YORK — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
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'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Gabriela Sá Pessoa, The Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.

Trump proposed 25% tariffs on Brazil on June 2. U.S. officials cited illegal deforestation.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
SAO PAULO — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment. Still, 370 square kilometers of the rainforest were cleared.
Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, aEnvironment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester. He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season.
In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period. , saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce. ' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs. ' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks. Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said. Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming. The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America.
Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe. Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's

SAO PAULO — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.

Brazil reports drop in Amazon deforestation rates, pushing back on U.S. tariff accusations

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Steven Grattan, The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes…

NEW YORK — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land - including inside protected areas and national parks - to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest - an area roughly the size of Belgium - according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
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Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
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After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates.

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.

SíO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.

Environmental organizations consider this to be the first tropical rainforest nation in the world to establish a national legal framework to control the link between livestock farming and deforestation.
Under the new regulations, government agencies and private businesses will have to integrate livestock tracking systems, land use data, and deforestation monitoring systems to identify herds of cattle involved in converting forests into pastureland. These animals will be removed from the legal supply chain.
The law is expected to help address one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon region. For many years, cattle farming has been linked to illegal land grabbing and deforestation to expand pastureland. According to organizations advocating for the policy, Colombia has lost approximately 3.3 million hectares of forest, equivalent to the area of ​​Belgium, with the Amazon region being the most severely affected.
Colombia will require the cattle industry to trace the origin of livestock and demonstrate that the beef supply chain is not linked to deforestation. Photo: Lund University.
Environmental activists argue that the new law could address long-standing regulatory loopholes that have allowed livestock raised on illegally deforested land, including in national parks and reserves, to enter the official supply chain and appear on domestic and export markets.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at the Dejusticia Centre for Legal Studies, said one of the breakthroughs of the law is bridging the gap between environmental policy and agricultural policy. Previously, mechanisms for controlling and tracing livestock almost never integrated environmental criteria, making it difficult to monitor the link between livestock farming and deforestation.
The law was also enacted amid growing demands from international markets for businesses to prove that agricultural products, especially beef, are not linked to deforestation. According to experts, traceability systems are becoming increasingly important for accessing many export markets, while also helping authorities detect illegal land grabbing and deforestation.
Susanne Breitkopf, Director of Forest Protection Campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) in the US, believes Colombia's law could become a model for many countries with rainforests. She considers it a victory for the forests, for the communities protecting them, and for consumers who want the beef products they consume to not contribute to deforestation or illegal economic activities.
Prior to Colombia, the Brazilian state of Pará had implemented traceability requirements for its livestock industry and committed to tracking each individual animal throughout the supply chain. However, environmental organizations argue that Colombia has gone further by establishing a unified legal framework nationwide.
According to the implementation roadmap, within six months, the Colombian government must develop programs to support businesses in complying with the new regulations, establish a certification system for products that do not cause deforestation, and strengthen monitoring capacity in deforestation hotspots. Within one year, authorities must finalize regulations on livestock identification and traceability, and develop assessment requirements for livestock farming that does not cause deforestation.
After two years, slaughterhouses, meat processing facilities, livestock exchanges, traders, and businesses exporting live cattle will be required to implement control measures to ensure the supply chain is not linked to deforestation. In addition, the law also requires the gradual connection of state databases to, for the first time, allow for cross-referencing of information on land use rights, livestock ownership, and deforestation status.
Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/colombia-thong-qua-luat-truy-xuat-nguon-goc-thit-bo-d815747.html

New regulations in Colombia require the cattle industry to trace the origin of livestock and demonstrate that the beef supply chain is not linked to deforestation.

Colombia passes law on beef traceability.

Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems

SAO PAULO – Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
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Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright
© 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks in front of a screen displaying a 61.4% decrease in Amazon deforestation compared with May 2025 during a visit to the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva listens to a presentation at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
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Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
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Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
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Article continues below this ad
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates. Brazilian officials on Thursday thus pushed back on accusations used by the United States to justify tariffs on Brazil. Official figures from Brazilian authorities show that deforestation in the Amazon in May was 61.4% lower than the same month in 2025. The Environment Ministry says this is the lowest figure ever recorded for May. The Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on Brazil on June 2. U.S. officials cited illegal deforestation. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the U.S. accusations. He emphasized Brazil's commitment to reducing deforestation. The Amazon plays a critical role in regulating the global climate.

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.

Colombia Passes Law to Track Cattle and Keep Deforestation-Linked Beef Out of Supply Chains

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
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Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates | WBEN

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems.
NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country .
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil , saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro , whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats , ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright
© 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOAAssociated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration…

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework. The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, […]

SAO PAULO — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
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On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva listens to a presentation at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026. Credit: AP/Eraldo Peres
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026. Credit: AP/Eraldo Peres
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.

FILE - Cows graze as a wildfire burns in Soacha, near Bogota, Colombia, Aug. 14, 2023.
Fernando Vergara/AP Photo/Fernando Vergara
NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
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'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
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'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
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The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems....

This marks the third consecutive year of decline. On average, Brazil lost 2,698 hectares of native vegetation per day in 2025, or 112 hectares per hour. Over the last seven years, 10.9 million hectares of land has been deforested – an area larger than Ireland.
The annual area deforested in Brazil is still the largest in the world. There is still some way to go to achieve the national target of halting and reversing the loss of native vegetation in the country by 2030. The good news is that when quality information, public transparency and concrete enforcement measures come together, deforestation can be reduced.
This is a key finding of Rad 2025, an annual report on deforestation in Brazil launched in May 2026 by MapBiomas, a global, multi-institutional network formed by universities, not-for-profit organisations and technology companies. This network monitors changes in land cover and land use in different territories and their impacts, now active in 14 countries across South America and Indonesia.
Read more: How positive tipping points may be the key to protecting tropical rainforests
The report shows a reduction in deforestation across all Brazilian biomes (large, distinct geographical region characterized by its specific climate, soil, and the unique plants and animals that have adapted to live there). The Pantanal saw the largest decrease, at 48.4%. In the Amazon, deforestation fell by 23.5%. The Cerrado also fell, but remains the biome with the largest deforested area in the country: 540,614 hectares in 2025, equivalent to 54.9% of all national deforestation.
The Amazon and the Cerrado together accounted for more than 84% of the deforested area in 2025. The Matopiba region - comprising the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, in the centre and northeast regions of Brazil - accounted for 40% of the country's loss of native vegetation and 70% of the deforestation recorded in the Cerrado. The region with the largest deforested area that year was Canto do Buriti, in Piauí, with 20,877 hectares.
The report also confirms that deforestation in Brazil is predominantly linked to agricultural expansion. In 2025, this factor accounted for 99% of the deforested area. This does not mean that all agricultural activity is linked to deforestation. On the contrary: Brazil has millions of producers who comply with the law and farm on land that has already been cleared. But it does mean that, when native vegetation is cleared, it is in this sector that the main pressure is concentrated.
In 2019, when MapBiomas Alerta began operating, only around 5% of the deforested area in Brazil had seen any kind of action taken by the regulatory bodies - such as embargoes on the use of the property, preventing planting, harvesting and marketing, fines, inspections or valid clearance authorisations. By 2025, this percentage had reached 65%.
This change did not happen by chance. It is the result of a combination of satellite detection systems, technical validation of alerts and the production of reports. These reports incorporated high-resolution imagery, they were cross-referenced with public registers and then effectively communicated to federal, state and municipal environmental agencies.
Technology does not replace public officials. It expands their capacity to act. Brazil is a vast country. There are not enough inspectors to be physically present in every place where vegetation is being cleared. But it is possible to know, almost in real time, where the clearing has taken place, the size of the area, which rural property is involved, whether there is a valid authorisation, and whether the area coincides with indigenous land, a conservation unit, a legal reserve, a permanent preservation area or another relevant territorial zone.
This is what allows us to prioritise operations, guide on site inspections, apply administrative measures and prevent the damage from continuing to spread.
It is therefore a cause for concern that the lower house of the Brazilian Congress has recently passed a bill restricting the adoption of precautionary measures by environmental agencies, including injunctions based on remote monitoring.
The bill is yet to be sent to the Senate. Its supporters argue that the measure seeks to ensure the right to a defence and prevent errors. The right to a defence is essential and must always be guaranteed.
But timing matters.
Deforestation is not a static offence. When an area begins to be cleared illegally, every day without action can mean more trees cut, more fires, more degradation, more illegal occupation and greater difficulty in recovery. The preliminary injunction exists precisely to halt the damage whilst the administrative process runs its course.
Restricting the use of satellite imagery for this type of measure would be like banning the use of speed cameras to monitor speeding on the roads. Radar does not convict anyone on its own. It records technical evidence, including date, time, location and a known method. The person fined can defend themselves, contest the charge, submit documents and demonstrate any error. But the existence of this right does not prevent the State from using technology to detect and curb potentially illegal conduct.
With deforestation, the logic is similar. Satellite imagery is not an opinion. It is an objective record of the Earth's surface. When combined with technical validation, time series, before-and-after images and cross-referencing of territories, it becomes one of the most robust tools available for environmental enforcement.
The Rad 2025 report shows that the country is managing to reduce deforestation, but it also highlights where the challenge remains.
Almost 2,700 hectares a day is still being cleared. More than half of Brazil's municipalities still have at least one deforestation event detected in the year. Strong pressure remains on the Cerrado, on the Matopiba region and on unauthorised private land.
Scaling back the use of technology in enforcement seems to run counter to the available evidence. The progress observed since 2019 coincides with the expanded use of public data, satellites, validated alerts and remote measures os control. This is not about replacing due process, but about allowing it to be informed by rapid, transparent and verifiable evidence.
Read more: Unprecedented drought in the Amazon threatens to release huge stores of carbon – podcast
Brazil now has one of the most comprehensive systems in the world for monitoring deforestation. This capability did not emerge overnight. It is the result of decades of public investment, science, inter-institutional cooperation and technological innovation. Using it effectively is a strength for the country.
The challenge now is to turn the 2025 decline into a lasting trend. To achieve this, it will be necessary to make progress in areas where deforestation remains concentrated, strengthen the role of the states, increase the accountability of those who deforest illegally, and provide security for those who produce in compliance with the law.
The worst course of action would be to reduce the government's ability to see what is happening on the ground. Because, in the fight against deforestation, seeing quickly is essential to acting in time.

Amazon Deforestation Is Falling, But Progress Is Stalling. In 2025, the area deforested in the country fell below one million hectares in a year for the first time since 2019. A total of 984,794…

Amazon Deforestation Is Falling, But Progress Is Stalling

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems
Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems
NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.

Colombia has enacted a law aimed at preventing cattle linked to deforestation from entering beef supply chains by connecting livestock traceability, land ownership and forest monitoring systems.…

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates. Brazilian officials on Thursday thus pushed back on accusations used by the United States to justify tariffs on Brazil....

During the first term of president Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva in 2003–11, the Brazilian administration slashed deforestation rates in the Amazon, all but eliminating the large-scale conversion of rainforest into cattle pasture and soya plantations. There's a lesson here for other world leaders: with eyes in space and law enforcement on the ground, governments can help to tame seemingly insatiable market forces, even across one of the planet's largest agricultural frontiers.
Lula, who has been back in office since 2023, is aiming for a repeat performance on saving the forest, which has lost some 15% of its original total area. Initial evidence suggests that he might be succeeding. The extent of annual deforestation has fallen by more than 50% since his re-election and is once again approaching record lows. The news comes as the latest research indicates that the forest might also be surprisingly resilient to climate change, but only if deforestation is kept in check. Together, continued deforestation and worsening global warming could tip the scales and cause the rainforest to die back, releasing its carbon into the atmosphere and potentially boosting global temperatures further.
The fact that deforestation is declining once again is a welcome change after several years of increases under Lula's predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who slashed environmental protections in the Amazon. Rates of tree felling shot up to the highest levels in more than a decade during his tenure. The recent progress in Brazil isn't limited to the Amazon biome, either. A 27 May analysis by MapBiomas, a network of academic researchers, technology firms and non-governmental organizations, found that deforestation is decreasing in biomes across the country (see go.nature.com/4dzxpyy).
Research published in early May provides further reasons for hope. A team led by Nico Wunderling at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, combined Earth-system, hydrological and other models to explore what might happen to the Amazon under various development and warming scenarios 1. The results indicate that, if left to itself, the forest would remain resilient even in the face of significant warming (of more than 3 °C above pre-industrial levels), with serious dieback only beginning once temperatures hit 3.7–4 °C above pre-industrial levels.
That picture changes, however, if deforestation continues unchecked. The models show that, once 22–28% of the total forest has been cleared, there would be dieback across much of the Amazon basin even if global warming is limited to 1.5–1.9 ° C — a level that the world is rapidly approaching. These results complement those of previous studies 2, 3.
For more than two decades, scientists have been studying whether the Amazon forest might eventually dry out and merge with the Cerrado, the tropical savannah on the southeastern side of the rainforest, if global warming continues. Extending from the Andes foothills to the Atlantic Ocean, the forest is big enough to create its own weather. The rain that blows in from the ocean is repeatedly recycled as trees trap water and release it back into the atmosphere. That water then falls as rain once again and the cycle repeats. Interrupt this process through permanent land-use change, fires and logging, and the whole system can break down.
All of this means that the race is on to achieve two objectives that could save the Amazon. Lula must reach his goal of eliminating illegal deforestation in the region by the end of 2030, and the international community must redouble its efforts to limit global warming. For now at least, deforestation rates are going in the right direction, but there are immediate and medium-term challenges. Even with the best of intentions, eliminating illegal deforestation is likely to get harder, not easier.
From August 2024 to July 2025, some 5,700 square kilometres of the Amazon were cut down, according to the latest official tally by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. This compares with an annual average of nearly 9,000 square kilometres over the past decade. More than one-third of the remaining forest has been degraded by disturbances such as logging and extreme drought.
Researchers have documented evidence that the southeastern Amazon, where development pressures are strongest, is transitioning from a sink to a source of carbon emissions 4. As large-scale deforestation declines, the government's focus is expected to shift towards curbing smaller-scale deforestation, which is more dispersed — more small actors across a wider area are harder to manage. In addition to agriculture, the government must also tackle illegal mining and, increasingly, coca plantations, which feed the drug trade.
Lula is also facing other internal challenges. Controversially, his government is planning to tarmac a major unpaved road in the heart of the Amazon that would only increase development pressure. Historically, better access has translated into more deforestation. This is also an election year in Brazil, and there remains opposition to environmental protection across parties in the Brazilian Congress. Just last month, its lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, passed legislation that would limit the ability of the government's environmental agency to base its enforcement actions against deforestation on satellite data.
Brazil has an opportunity to lead the rescue of the world's largest rainforest. Research shows that the forest can be resilient, but that it has limits. Leadership at all levels is needed to continue driving deforestation down. The whole planet will benefit from this success.

As deforestation in the Amazon falls, fresh evidence shows that the rainforest can withstand global warming, but only if there is a worldwide effort to stop cutting it down.

The Amazon can be saved — with concerted action inside and outside Brazil

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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NEW YORK – Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
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Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

SAO PAULO – Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

FILE - Cows graze as a wildfire burns in Soacha, near Bogota, Colombia, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File) (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.The law requires...

Colombia Passes Law to Track Cattle and Keep Deforestation-linked Beef out of Supply Chains

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation , a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.
The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.
Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.
The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land — including inside protected areas and national parks — to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.
A demand for beef not linked to deforestation
Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.
'It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies,' Breitkopf said.
The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.
Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Belgium — according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.
Creating a nationwide legal framework
Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.
A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.
The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.
Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.
'One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy,' she said. 'The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective.'
Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.
'This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains,' Vélez said.
A 2-year timeline for implementation
Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.
Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.
By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.
The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.
Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.
But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.
If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.
'The real test will be what happens on the ground,' Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.
'Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen,' she said.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country. In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials […] | Local News from KRQE News 13 in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks in front of a screen displaying a 61.4% decrease in Amazon deforestation compared with May 2025 during a visit to the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva listens to a presentation at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
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Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
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Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
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Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
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Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates. Brazilian officials on Thursday thus pushed back on accusations used by the United...
SAO PAULO(AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates. Brazilian officials on Thursday thus pushed back on accusations used by the United...

Brazilian officials have announced a significant drop in deforestation rates. Brazilian officials on Thursday thus pushed back on accusations used by the United States to justify tariffs on Brazil. Official figures from Brazilian authorities show that deforestation in the Amazon…

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks in front of a screen displaying a 61.4% decrease in Amazon deforestation compared with May 2025 during a visit to the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva listens to a presentation at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives at the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.
In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.
Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.
Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.
He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon's dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.
On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world's 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are 'unreasonable' and that 'burden or restrict U.S. commerce.' The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.
Capobianco said that the deforestation figures 'debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.' President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.
Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.
'And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don't understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,' the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.
'It's a matter of justice, of Brazil's contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,' he said.
Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
The Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.
After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula's administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.
Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.
Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.
___
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Global Deforestation

This section is intended to collect data on the current status of global deforestation. This is accomplished through the utilization of APIs, databases, news sources, MapBuilders, and academic journals.