Deforestation slowed worldwide last year, but the improvement is unlikely to last as the situation deteriorates in Central Africa and an exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern intensifies, a new study said on Wednesday.
Seven million hectares of forest – roughly the size of the Republic of Ireland – were permanently destroyed in 2025, a 15 per cent drop from the previous year, according to the annual Forest Declaration Assessment.
The slowdown, however, is not enough to keep the world from missing a pledge to end deforestation by 2030, according to the report, which was drafted by a coalition of research groups and non-governmental organisations.
The 2025 figure is “encouraging but so far it’s the exception, not a new trajectory”, Erin Matson, the study’s co-author and lead consultant at advisory group Climate Focus, said in a media briefing.