Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by half last year as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government strengthened environmental policing. However, clear-cutting in the Cerrado savanna reached a new annual record. Satellite monitoring from the national space research agency’s DETER surveillance program detected a 50% reduction in forest cover destruction in the Amazon. On the other hand, the Cerrado, a biodiversity hotspot linked to the Amazon, lost a record amount of native vegetation. The destruction in both regions is driven by farming and cattle ranching in Brazil.