A new Forest Declaration Assessment finds that 7 million hectares of forest were permanently lost in 2025, a 15% drop from the prior year. Most of the improvement came from Latin America, especially Brazil, where enforcement in the Amazon increased. But the report warns that the progress depends on a small number of governments and could reverse after elections across the region. At the same time, deforestation in the Congo basin reached 2.4 million hectares, nearly matching Amazon losses for the first time. The study notes that DRC forests are prized for logging and contested carbon-offset programmes, raising questions about whether those credits actually prevent clearing. A strong El Nino is expected to bring more drought and fire risk in 2026, so the current slowdown may not hold. The world remains far off the pledge to end deforestation by 2030.
