Deforestation slowed in 2025 but Congo basin loss surged

Global deforestation slowed in 2025, but rainforest loss rose in the Congo basin and the improvement is not enough to meet a 2030 forest protection pledge, the annual Forest Declaration Assessment said.

The assessment said seven million hectares of forest were permanently destroyed in 2025, about the size of the Republic of Ireland. That was a 15% fall from the previous year.

The report, produced by a coalition of research groups and non-governmental organisations, said deforestation would need to fall by about one million hectares a year to meet the pledge to end deforestation by 2030, agreed at the United Nations COP26 climate talks in 2021.

Latin America drove much of the improvement, with forest loss down 33%, according to the assessment. It pointed to Brazil’s deforestation action plan and increased enforcement in the Amazon, but said progress remained vulnerable to political changes across the Amazon basin.

In Central Africa, the assessment said Congo basin rainforest loss reached 2.4 million hectares, near the Amazon’s level for the first time. Sam Nguiffo, founder of the Centre for Environment and Development in Cameroon, said logging, agriculture and mining pressures appeared to dominate forest management in the region.

The assessment also warned that a strong 2026-27 El Nino could worsen drought and fire risks in tropical forests. Erin Matson, a co-author of the study and lead consultant at Climate Focus, said it was unlikely that 2026 would see the same reductions in deforestation recorded in 2025.