Forests on a knife’s edge: Deforestation slows, climate fires loom

In a rare glimmer of hope for the planet’s lungs, the relentless destruction of tropical forests eased in 2025 — yet the reprieve, scientists warn, is fragile and far from sufficient.

A new study by the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland reveals that the world lost 4.3 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest last year — a sharp 36 per cent drop from the record devastation of 2024.

But beneath this encouraging headline lies a sobering truth: forest loss remains dangerously elevated, still 46 per cent higher than a decade ago and nearly 70 per cent above the level needed to halt deforestation by 2030.

“A drop of this scale is encouraging — it shows what decisive government action can achieve,” said Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of WRI’s Global Forest Watch platform. “But part of the decline reflects a lull after an extreme fire year.”

Indeed, the report cautions that wildfires — supercharged by climate change — are emerging as a “dangerous new normal”, threatening to undo hard-won progress. With the warming El Niño expected to return mid-year, the risks of heatwaves, droughts, and infernos are set to intensify once more.

A significant portion of the global slowdown can be traced to Brazil, home to the Amazon rainforest. There, forest loss unrelated to fires plunged by 41per cent — the lowest rate on record.

Researchers credit the turnaround to renewed environmental resolve under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who reinstated anti-deforestation measures, tightened enforcement, and increased penalties for environmental crimes.

Yet even in Brazil, the battle is far from won. Expanding soy cultivation, cattle ranching, and efforts to weaken protections continue to cast long shadows over the forest canopy.

Elsewhere, progress flickered but remained uneven. Colombia recorded a 17 per cent decline in forest loss — its second-lowest level since 2016 — thanks to policy interventions and agreements curbing land clearing. But in parts of Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon, deforestation rates remained stubbornly high.

Globally, tree cover loss dipped by 14 per cent, yet fires accounted for a staggering 42 per cent of tropical forest destruction. While many of these blazes are human-driven, climate change is amplifying their intensity and reach — even in temperate regions.

In Canada, wildfires scorched 5.3 million hectares in 2025, marking the country’s second-worst fire season on record.

“Forests are powerful carbon sinks, but on a warming planet, fires and droughts are turning them into sources of emissions,” warned Rod Taylor. “We’re on a kind of knife’s edge.”

As the world inches toward critical climate deadlines, the message is clear: while policy can bend the curve of destruction, the accelerating force of climate change threatens to snap it back — leaving the fate of the world’s forests hanging in a precarious balance.