The health of the planet’s forests is rapidly deteriorating, with deforestation and degradation surging worldwide, according to the Forest Declaration Assessment 2025. The report warns that countries remain far off track in achieving their pledge to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
At the halfway point of the decade meant to mark a turning point for global forest protection, deforestation rates continue to rise sharply. In 2024 alone, around 8.1 million hectares of forest were lost far exceeding the annual target of five million hectares set under international forest commitments. This figure is also three million hectares higher than the limits pledged under the New York Declaration on Forests (2014), the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration (2021), and reaffirmed in the First Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement (2023).
The report highlights that humid tropical primary forests, the planet’s most irreplaceable ecosystems, suffered losses of 6.7 million hectares in 2024. This destruction released 3.1 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gases nearly 150 per cent of the annual emissions from the U.S. energy sector.
Permanent agriculture, including crops like oil palm, cacao, rubber, and pasture expansion, remains the leading cause of global deforestation, accounting for 86 per cent of total loss over the past decade. Forest degradation is also accelerating, with 8.8 million hectares of tropical moist forest degraded in 2024, putting global restoration goals off track by 235 per cent.
Wildfires emerged as another major driver of forest loss, particularly in the Amazon Basin, where fire-induced degradation continues to intensify. The greenhouse gas emissions from wildfires in 2024 alone reached 791 million metric tonnes surpassing industrial emissions from Germany. The report warned that climate change and poor forest management are transforming natural disturbances into co-drivers of ecological collapse.
Despite worsening trends, restoration efforts remain insufficient, with just 10.6 million hectares of land covered by restoration projects. Most governments, the assessment noted, are failing to align economic, trade, and land-use policies with forest conservation goals.
Corporate responsibility is also falling short. Less than one-third of agricultural and forestry companies are addressing all forest-risk commodities in their supply chains, and only three per cent have implemented robust deforestation-free commitments.
The report further identifies the mining sector as an emerging threat, as global energy demands rise. Nearly 77 per cent of all mines are located within 50 kilometres of Key Biodiversity Areas, and forest loss in these zones surged by 47 per cent in 2023–24, amounting to 2.17 million hectares lost.
Illegal deforestation and logging continue to fuel environmental crime, generating an estimated $281 billion annually. Between 61 per cent and 94 per cent of tropical agricultural deforestation is illegal, according to the report.
It also underscores that recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ land rights remains limited, with only 13 per cent of customary lands in tropical forests formally recognised.
As the world heads toward 2030, the assessment paints a stark picture: the planet’s forests are in crisis, global commitments are falling short, and without urgent systemic change, the promise to halt deforestation will remain unfulfilled.