Tropical primary forest loss dipped 9% in 2023 to 3.7 million hectares, according to University of Maryland data released this week on World Resources Institute‘s Global Forest Watch.
The decline was driven primarily by a 36% drop in Brazil, which typically accounts for the largest proportion of tropical forest loss. Forest loss in the Amazon biome in Brazil fell 39%, but rose in the Cerrado and Pantanal, according to the data.
Key takeaways from the data:
☑ Forest loss remains persistently high despite a global push to rein in deforestation
☑ Forest fires had a major impact on the world’s forests in 2023
☑ El Niño didn’t hit SE Asian forests as badly as feared
Global tree cover loss surged 24% to 28.3 million ha due to huge increase in fires in Canada. For the rest of the world, tree cover loss decreased by 4%
Tropical primary forest loss (ha), 2019-2023
Brazil – 7,523,404
Congo (DRC) – 2,503,722
Bolivia – 1,734,872
Indonesia – 1,318,985
Peru – 817,456
Colombia – 604,676
Laos – 464,839
Cameroon – 422,673
Malaysia – 416,593
Cambodia – 282,788
Madagascar – 281,767
Papua New Guinea – 268,879
Mexico – 256,786
Nicaragua – 223,225
Myanmar – 213,449
Paraguay – 211,847
Honduras – 185,092
Venezuela – 182,554
Liberia – 143,133
Vietnam – 130,646
Republic of Congo – 127,029
Guatemala – 118,121
India – 103,706
Ecuador – 79,758
Angola – 76,520
Tree cover loss (ha), 2019-2023
Russia – 23,290,218
Canada – 16,766,092
Brazil – 15,095,027
United States – 9,708,038
Congo (DRC) – 6,323,069
Indonesia – 5,260,387
Australia – 4,588,795
Bolivia – 3,132,619
China – 2,670,339
Laos – 1,807,001
Sweden – 1,649,858
Malaysia – 1,498,317
Myanmar – 1,491,700
Colombia – 1,320,164
Finland – 1,308,452
Madagascar – 1,289,803
Angola – 1,256,698
Mozambique – 1,246,207
Paraguay – 1,236,609
Mexico – 1,221,254
Peru – 1,198,914
Côte d’Ivoire – 1,036,661
Argentina – 992,861
Vietnam – 917,953
Tanzania – 883,769
