Brasilia, Aug 4 (IANS): The level of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has dropped to its lowest since 2017, according to official data.

According to the data shared by the Brazilian space agency Inpe on Thursday, 500 sq km of rainforest were cleared the country last month which was 66 per cent less compared to July 2022, reports the BBC.

Inpe said that the area of forest cut down in the first seven months of 2023 was smaller than that razed in the same period in 2022.

The agency's data further revealed that the authorities are going after those engaging in illegal logging.

The fines imposed in the first seven months of this year have topped $400 million, a rise of almost 150 per cent, the BBC reported citing Inpe as saying.

When President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in January, he had promised to halt the damage done during his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro's four-year term.

Bolsonaro had promoted mining in indigenous lands in the Amazon and forest clearances soared at the same time as resources to protect the forest were cut.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Lula said an Amazon summit next week which will be attended by leaders from countries that share the world's largest rainforest, is something the whole world should watch.

He argued that all too often, promises made at global summits were not met, but he insisted that "where there's a will, there's a way".

The Amazon rainforest is a crucial buffer in the global fight against climate change and 60 per cent of it is located in Brazil.

Due to the large number of trees growing in the Amazon, it is often called "the lungs of the planet" on account of how the trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.