While tropical rainforests continue to shrink, that decline is slowing following a record high in 2024, the World Resources Institute (WRI) said on Wednesday.
In 2025, 4.3 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest were lost – an area roughly the size of Denmark – according to data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab.
However, that is 36% less than the amount of rainforest that disappeared in 2024, according to the WRI.
WRI co-director of Global Forest Watch Elizabeth Goldman said the data was encouraging.
"A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging; it shows what decisive government action can achieve," she said.
"But part of the decline reflects a lull after an extreme fire year. Fires and climate change are feeding off each other, and with El Nino on the horizon for 2026, investments in prevention and response will be critical as extreme fire conditions become the norm.”
Despite the decline, loss remained 46% higher than a decade ago, WRI noted.
It warned that despite the progress, global forest loss remained above the level required to meet the 2030 goal of halting and reversing forest loss, a commitment made by more than 140 countries. Current levels are about 70% too high, WRI said.
Much of the global reduction was driven by Brazil, home to the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon. Brazil reduced non-fire primary forest loss by 41% compared to 2024, reaching its lowest level on record, WRI said.
Agricultural expansion remained the leading driver of deforestation overall in the world, although fires were a major contributor, WRI said.
GLAD Lab director Matthew Hansen said climate change and land clearing had "shortened the fuse" on global forest fires.
"Without urgent action to stop burning and manage fire more effectively, we risk pushing the world’s most important forests past recovery.”
Forest loss remained high in countries including Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Peru, Laos and Madagascar, WRI said. It cited agricultural expansion, mining, fire and local reliance on forests for food and fuel as contributing factors.