Forest loss slowed in 2025. Scientists say don't count on it

The world lost an area of forest roughly the size of Ireland in 2025 – around 7 million hectares – a report released on Wednesday shows. 

Global forest loss slowed by 15% from the previous year, the annual Forest Declaration Assessment says, but the reprieve may prove short-lived. 

Latin America drove this improvement, recording a 33% drop in deforestation across a region long known as a global hot‑spot for forest loss.

In contrast, the situation deteriorated in the Congo Basin in Central Africa, where 2.4 million hectares of rainforest were lost in 2025, bringing forest loss there close to the Amazon's level for the first time.

The Congo Basin holds the world's second-largest tropical rainforest, after the Amazon.

Sam Nguiffo, a lawyer and founder of the Centre for Environment and Development in Cameroon, said forest clearing for agriculture and mineral extraction was widespread in Central Africa. He warned that the rate of rainforest loss in the Congo Basin was alarming.

Erin D. Matson, a co-author of the report, told a media briefing that while the slowdown was encouraging, it should not yet be regarded as a lasting trend.

"So far, this is an exception rather than a new trend," Matson said.

The report also warned that an exceptionally strong El Niño expected in 2026-2027 could increase drought and wildfire risks across tropical forest regions.

(With input from AFP)