Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon falls 57% in September
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest fell 56.8% in September compared to a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, while the region is struggling with a historic drought. The total area cleared in the Amazon in the first nine months of the year fell 49.5%, according to preliminary data from Brazilian space research agency INPE. Ending illegal deforestation is a priority of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration both internationally and domestically, after destruction in the rainforest surged under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.