SAO PAULO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 59 percent to 590.3 square km in September from a year earlier, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported Friday.
Brazil is home to 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest in South America.
However, deforestation increased in the Cerrado biome savannah, up by 89 percent year-on-year in September, showed the INPE data.
Located in central Brazil, the Cerrado biome occupies 23.3 percent of the country’s territory.
Since taking office in January, the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva resumed fines and penalties for environmental crimes, especially in the Amazon, so as to reduce deforestation in the region.
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