The drop in deforestation comes amid efforts to protect the vital Amazon rainforest after years of record destruction.
Deforestation in Colombia fell 36 percent in 2023 compared with the previous year, the country's environment ministry said, as President Gustavo Petro's government works to halt record destruction in the Amazon.
In a statement released Monday, the Environment Ministry said deforestation fell to just over 792 square kilometers (305 square miles) in Colombia last year, down from about 1,235 square kilometers (477 square miles) in 2022.
“It is very good news, but we cannot definitely say that the battle is won. We continue to face illicit economies,” Environment Minister Susana Muhamad told reporters in the capital, Bogotá.
In Colombia’s Amazon region specifically – traditionally the driver of the national figure – deforestation fell 38 percent to about 443 square kilometers (171 square miles), down from about 712 square kilometers (275 square miles) in 2022.
When elected in 2022, Petro promised to prioritize environmental protection and halt Amazon deforestation by limiting the expansion of agribusiness in the rainforest, among other measures.
The leftist leader has also called on rich countries to cancel foreign debt in exchange for preserving areas such as the Amazon, whose destruction scientists say could worsen the global climate crisis.
Progress in peace talks between the government and armed groups in the region, along with financial incentives for Amazon farmers to help with conservation, helped drive deforestation to a 23-year low last year.
It came after deforestation had fallen by around 29 percent in 2022.
Environmental experts have said the decline in deforestation was also likely linked to orders from dissident groups of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) fighters banning deforestation.
Environment Minister Muhamad said Monday that the strong presence of government forces in these areas, as well as progress in peace talks, would be key to maintaining the downward trend.
Despite the decline, however, Muhamad warned in April that deforestation had increased in 2024 amid dry conditions exacerbated by a strong El Niño weather phenomenon.
In August 2023, Colombia was one of several South American countries that agreed to launch an alliance to protect the Amazon.
Together with Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, the country signed a joint declaration that sets out a nearly 10,000-word roadmap to promote sustainable development, end deforestation and combat the organised crime that fuels it.
Colombia will host the United Nations biodiversity summit COP16 in the city of Cali later this year.
