Millions of hectares of tropical forest were destroyed in 2025, despite a slowdown in deforestation led by Brazil. Environmental experts say the drop shows governments can curb forest loss, but warn rainforests remain under pressure from agriculture, mining and fires.
Tropical regions lost 4.3 million hectares of primary forest during the year, an area roughly the size of Switzerland, figures from Global Forest Watch – run by the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland – showed.
