Tropical Forest Loss Fell 36% After a Record Year
After a record-breaking 2024, tropical rainforest loss dropped 36% in 2025, according to new Global Forest Watch data from WRI and the University of Maryland. Brazil did most of the work, cutting non-fire primary forest loss by 41% to its lowest level on record, which WRI ties to stronger enforcement and the relaunch of the country's federal anti-deforestation plan under Lula. The world still lost 4.3 million hectares of primary rainforest last year, an area about the size of Denmark, and loss remains 46% higher than a decade ago. Part of the drop reflects a lull after an extreme fire year, and with El Niño expected back in 2026, WRI's Elizabeth Goldman frames the gains as something that has to be defended rather than banked. Forests get cleared when doing so pays better than protecting them, so the question is how you build an economy that makes a standing forest worth more than a cleared one.After a record-breaking 2024, tropical rainforest loss dropped 36% in 2025, according to new Global Forest Watch data from WRI and the University of Maryland. Brazil did most of the work, cutting non-fire primary forest loss by 41% to its lowest level on record, which WRI ties to stronger enforcement and the relaunch of the country's federal anti-deforestation plan under Lula. The world still lost 4.3 million hectares of primary rainforest last year, an area about the size of Denmark, and loss remains 46% higher than a decade ago. Part of the drop reflects a lull after an extreme fire year, and with El Niño expected back in 2026, WRI's Elizabeth Goldman frames the gains as something that has to be defended rather than banked. Forests get cleared when doing so pays better than protecting them, so the question is how you build an economy that makes a standing forest worth more than a cleared one.Expert summary pending. Showing the newcomer version.