Tropical forest loss hit a record in 2024

Tropical forests are among the planet's richest carbon and biodiversity stores, and satellite monitoring shows they are under intensifying pressure. In 2024, tropical primary forest loss reached a record 6.7 million hectares — an area roughly the size of Panama, and almost twice the 2023 figure.

Fire took the lead

For the first time in the record, fire was the single largest driver of tropical primary loss, responsible for about half of it, overtaking commodity-driven clearing for farmland. Extreme drought and heat left forests unusually flammable, and the 2024 fires released an estimated 4.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases.

A mixed picture on the ground

Not all the news points one way:

• Brazil's Amazon deforestation (clear-cutting) fell about 11% in the year to mid-2025 to its lowest since 2014, though forest fires and degradation rose.
• Several countries have made pledges to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, but the global trend remains far off track.

Why forests are an indicator

Forests absorb roughly a quarter of human CO₂ emissions and shelter most land species. Losing them both releases stored carbon and weakens a natural buffer against warming. That is why forest cover is one of the most closely watched signals of planetary health — and why near-real-time satellite alerts have become a frontline conservation tool.