The world lost a record amount of forest in 2024, driven by a catastrophic rise in fires.
New data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab, made available on World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Global Forest Watch platform, shows that loss of tropical primary forests alone reached 6.7 million hectares last year – twice as much as in 2023 and an area nearly the size of Panama. That is around 18 football pitches lost every 18 minutes.
For the first time on record, fires, not agriculture, were the leading cause of this loss, accounting for nearly half of all destruction. They burned five times more tropical primary forest in 2024 than in 2023. Latin America was particularly hard hit.
In total, these fires emitted 4.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions – more than four times the emissions of all air travel in 2023.
“This level of forest loss is unlike anything we’ve seen in over 20 years of data,” says Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of WRI’s Global Forest Watch.
“It’s a global red alert – a collective call to action for every country, every business and every person who cares about a livable planet. Our economies, our communities, our health – none of it can survive without forests.”
Extreme weather fuelled tropical forest fires in 2024
Though forest fires are natural in some ecosystems, they are mostly human-caused in tropical regions. Fires are often started for agricultural reasons or to prepare new areas for farming.
Last year was the hottest year on record, with extreme conditions including severe widespread drought fuelled by climate change and the El Nino climate phenomenon. Some countries, especially those in Latin America, experienced their worst drought on record in 2024. The report says these conditions made fires more intense and harder to control in many parts of the world.
While some forests can recover from these blazes, the combined pressure of land conversion and a changing climate hinders that recovery. It also creates a feedback loop that raises the likelihood of future fires.
Which countries lost the most forest in 2024?
Brazil, set to host the COP30 climate conference later this year, lost the largest areas of tropical forest in 2024, according to the data. In total, it accounted for 42 per cent of all tropical primary forest loss last year.
Fires were fuelled by the worst drought on record for the country, causing 66 per cent of that loss. Other causes, such as farming for soy and cattle, rose by 13 per cent – still much lower than the peaks seen in the early 2000s.
“Brazil has made progress under President Lula – but the threat to forests remains,” says Mariana Oliveira, director of the forests and land use programme at WRI Brasil.
“Without sustained investment in community fire prevention, stronger state-level enforcement and a focus on sustainable land use, hard-won gains risk being undone. As Brazil prepares to host COP30, it has a powerful opportunity to put forest protection front and centre on the global stage.”
Forest loss also skyrocketed by 200 per cent in Bolivia last year to a total of 1.5 million hectares. For the first time ever, it ranked in second place behind Brazil, overtaking the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – despite having less than half the forest area.
Stasiek Czaplicki Cabezas, Bolivian researcher and data journalist for Revista Nomadas, says fires in 2024 “left deep scars”, not just on the land but for those who depend on it. “The damage could take centuries to undo.”
Despite shifting down in the rankings, DRC saw the highest levels of primary forest loss on record, surging by 150 per cent compared to 2023. Fires, made worse by unusually hot and dry conditions, caused 45 per cent of the damage. Just like the Amazon, the Congo basin acts as a crucial carbon sink, but increasing fires and forest loss now threaten its vital function.
Columbia too saw an almost 50 per cent increase in primary forest loss but fires weren’t the primary cause. Instability from the breakdown of peace talks led to the growth of activities like illegal mining and coca production (the main ingredient in cocaine).
Wildfires also drove forest loss outside of the tropics
The rise in forest loss extended well beyond the tropics in 2024, with a 5 per cent increase in the total loss of tree cover around the world compared to 2023. That is an additional 30 million hectares lost last year, an area roughly the size of Italy.
An intense fire season in Russia and Canada was partially responsible for driving this increase. While forest fires are a part of the natural dynamics in these regions, they have been more intense and longer-lasting in recent years, giving tree cover less time to recover.
Research has shown that these boreal forests are increasingly susceptible to drought and fires due to climate change, creating a feedback loop of worsening fires and carbon emissions.
Last year was also the first time since Global Forest Watch began keeping records when fires raged across both the tropics and boreal forests.
This data should ‘jolt’ us out of complacency
The report isn’t all bad news, with some countries racking up wins in the face of a challenging year. In Indonesia, for example, primary forest loss fell by 11 per cent. Efforts under former President Joko Widodo to restore land and curb fires helped keep fire rates low, even amid widespread droughts.
Arief Wijaya, managing director of WRI Indonesia, says that while deforestation remains a concern, they are proud that it was one of the few countries to reduce primary forest loss in 2024. “We hope the current administration can keep the momentum going.”
Malaysia too saw a 13 per cent decline and fell out of the top 10 countries for tropical primary forest loss for the first time.
Leaders of over 140 countries signed the Glasgow Leaders Declaration in 2021, promising to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. To do this, the world needs to cut deforestation by 20 per cent every year starting immediately.
But we are alarmingly off track to meet this commitment: Of the 20 countries with the largest area of primary forest, 17 have higher primary forest loss today than when the agreement was signed.
Stronger fire prevention, provision for deforestation-free supply chains, enforcement of trade regulations and increased funding for forest protection are urgently needed, the report’s authors say – especially through Indigenous-led initiatives.
Mapping shows that one such initiative, Bolivia’s newly established Charagua Lyambae protected area, kept fires at bay in 2024.
Their investments in early warning systems and enforcement of land use policies helped prevent the spread while the forest burned around it for the second year in a row. A testament to what Indigenous-led fire prevention can do.
“Countries have repeatedly pledged to halt deforestation and forest degradation,” says Kelly Levin, chief scientist for data and systems change at the Bezos Earth Fund.
“Yet the data reveal a stark gap between promises made and progress delivered – alongside the growing impacts of a warming world. That should jolt us out of complacency.”