Between 28 June and 26 September 2026, satellite alert systems logged 18977 high-confidence deforestation alerts inside the São Félix do Xingu (PA) area of interest, covering 232.05 ha. Of that, 223 ha came from high-confidence alerts and 9.05 ha from the highest-confidence class. An independent optical check backs this up: median-composite Sentinel-2 NDVI — a greenness measure — fell by -0.133 over roughly the same window, with 93% and 96% of pixels usable in the two composites, so cloud is not driving the result.
What this is not: the alerts cannot tell legal clearing, fire, storm damage or selective logging apart from unauthorised clearing, and no cause is assigned here. This is an El Niño season (ONI 1.8), when drought stress alone can lower greenness. Regrowth and harvest cycles can also mimic loss. Notably, alert density here is 0.501× that of the surrounding 25 km ring — this block is quieter than its neighbourhood.
What would change our mind: higher-resolution imagery showing intact canopy, burn-scar mapping indicating fire, concession or protected-area layers placing the change in a managed cycle, or an NDVI rebound in the next composite.
Written by AI, then checked by a separate reviewer before publication. Every claim points at the evidence below.