Forest Loss

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How much tree cover is lost globally each year?

The world has lost 488 million hectares (Mha) of tree cover since the turn of the century, equivalent to about 12 percent of global tree cover in 2000. Tree cover loss has been rising in recent history, from 13.4 Mha of tree cover loss in 2001 to 28.3 Mha in 2023.

Tree Cover Loss, Forest Loss, and Deforestation

The tree cover data used in this report are based on Hansen et al. (2013), who define tree cover as woody vegetation with a height of at least 5 meters (m) and a canopy density of at least 30 percent at 30 m resolution. Tree cover data therefore include planted forests and tree crops, which do not constitute a “forest” by most definitions. The tree cover data exclude areas of sparse tree cover, such as in the Sahel or the Cerrado, as well as individual trees in agricultural, suburban, or urban landscapes.

Tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover for any reason, including human-caused loss and natural events. Loss of tree cover may be permanent or temporary; for example, temporary tree cover loss may occur when trees are harvested for wood production and the land is subsequently replanted or allowed to naturally regenerate. Deforestation, on the other hand, typically refers to human-caused, permanent removal of natural forest cover. This report uses tree cover loss data because it can be measured consistently at a global scale, but it also attempts to estimate forest loss and deforestation where data allow. More information about these estimates is available in the Data and Methods section.

Annual rates of global tree cover loss have risen since 2000

Forestry, commodity-driven deforestation, wildfire, and shifting agriculture are the leading causes of tree cover loss

Forestry is associated with 155 Mha of tree cover loss: Large-scale forestry operations in managed forests or tree plantations where future regrowth is likely. Regrowth may occur through natural regeneration or tree planting.
Commodity-driven deforestation is associated with 102 Mha of tree cover loss: Permanent conversion of forests for commodity production, including agriculture, mining, or oil and gas production.
Wildfire is associated with 113 Mha of tree cover loss: Burning of vegetation with no visible human conversion or agricultural activity afterward. Some of these fires occur naturally, but others are set by humans. In humid tropical forests, fires are not natural to the ecosystem and are almost always set by humans, usually to clear land for agriculture.
Shifting agriculture is associated with 113 Mha of tree cover loss: Agricultural practices where forests are cleared, used for agricultural production for a few years, and then temporarily abandoned to allow trees to regrow. Shifting agriculture involves many different types of smallholder farming practices.
Urbanization is associated with 3 Mha of tree cover loss: Permanent conversion of forests to human settlements.

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How much tree cover loss is permanent versus temporary?

Roughly 27 percent of tree cover loss since 2000 was likely to be deforestation, characterized by permanent loss of forest resulting in new, nonforest land uses such as agriculture and human settlements.

The remaining tree cover loss was likely more temporary in nature, often related to fire or wood harvesting. In these areas, forests may regrow, but the time required for forests to regenerate and redevelop important ecosystem functions is highly variable and can be long.

How much tree cover is lost in tropical versus temperate and boreal forests?

Though only half (239 Mha) of global tree cover loss this century occurred in the tropical ecozone, the tropics accounted for nearly 97 percent of all global deforestation (associated with urbanization, agriculture, and other commodity production). The annual rate of tropical tree cover loss nearly doubled from 6.7 Mha in 2001 to 12.1 Mha in 2023. Although Brazil and Indonesia experienced the largest area of tree cover loss this century, these two countries have become less dominant as the rate of tree cover loss in all other tropical countries combined has increased by 142 percent since 2001.

Tree cover loss has steadily increased in the tropics

Meanwhile, temperate and boreal forests have experienced 193 Mha of gross tree cover loss since the turn of the century, with almost 99 percent related to temporary factors (forestry and wildfire) where tree cover is likely to regrow. Canada, Russia, and the United States together make up 97 percent of tree cover loss related to wildfire and 67 percent of all loss related to forestry in temperate and boreal forests. Tree cover loss related to wildfire and forestry is not necessarily permanent, but it takes time for forests to regenerate. Unsustainable forestry practices, such as forestry cycles that are too short, can impact the condition of a forest and its ability to provide wildlife habitat and important ecosystem services (see the Forest Degradation Indicator).

Are Fires Intensifying?

Fire is a natural part of the landscape in many temperate and boreal forests, fostering species turnover and releasing important nutrients. Although the global burned area has decreased in the past decades, likely as a result of the conversion of grasslands to agriculture, forest fires are becoming more frequent and severe as climate change brings increasingly warm and dry weather to parts of the world. These forest fires can result in major impacts on the economy, human life, and forest ecosystems. In addition to climate change, humans have also exacerbated fires in these landscapes by suppressing natural burns, encroaching on wild areas, and igniting new fires.

Tropical forests have also been heavily affected by fires in recent years, with blazes in Brazil, Indonesia, Bolivia, and elsewhere drawing massive media attention. Fires in humid tropical forests such as the Amazon are not natural—these fires are almost always set by humans —though they often only burn out of control under conditions of drought. Since these ecosystems are not adapted to fire, the blazes may cause adverse impacts on those forests for years to come. These tropical forest fires also result in major climate-damaging emissions, resulting in a potential positive feedback loop between climate change and fires.

Forests have been converted to urban land around cities in the southeastern United States

Limitations and Future Prospects

Tree cover loss is not equivalent to forest loss because some forms of tree cover (e.g., tree crops such as oil palm) are not included in most widely accepted definitions of a forest. Ongoing efforts to develop better global-scale spatial data on the extent of natural forests, managed seminatural forests and planted forests, and tree crops would allow improved monitoring of forest loss. A 2024 study aggregated maps of planted forests and tree crops from a variety of sources and time periods into a single database. In the tropics, planted forests and tree crops account for only 3 percent of total tree cover. In temperate and boreal forests, planted forests and tree crops account for 6% of total tree cover, but this number is likely an underestimation due to data limitations.

Current data on the drivers of tree cover loss are also limited. The 10-kilometer spatial resolution of the Curtis et al. (2018) data used in this analysis is relatively coarse, resulting in oversimplifications of land-use dynamics and inaccuracies; for example, the data are known to overestimate shifting agriculture in Africa. The authors of this data are currently exploring new artificial intelligence techniques to improve the spatial resolution of the model.

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Dark surfaces absorb the rays from the sun (low albedo).\r\n"},"94":{"name":"biodiversity intactness","description":"The proportion and abundance of a location\u0027s original forest community (number of species and individuals) that remain.\u0026nbsp;\r\n"},"95":{"name":"biodiversity significance","description":"The importance of an area for the persistence of forest-dependent species based on range rarity.\r\n"},"142":{"name":"boundary plantings","description":"Trees planted along boundaries or property lines to mark them well.\r\n"},"98":{"name":"carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)","description":"Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) is a measure used to aggregate emissions from various greenhouse gases (GHGs) on the basis of their 100-year global warming potentials by equating non-CO2 GHGs to the equivalent amount of CO2.\r\n"},"99":{"name":"CO2e","description":"Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) is a measure used to aggregate emissions from various greenhouse gases (GHGs) on the basis of their 100-year global warming potentials by equating non-CO2 GHGs to the equivalent amount of CO2.\r\n"},"1":{"name":"deforestation","description":"The change from forest to another land cover or land use, such as forest to plantation or forest to urban area.\r\n"},"77":{"name":"deforested","description":"The change from forest to another land cover or land use, such as forest to plantation or forest to urban area.\r\n"},"76":{"name":"degradation","description":"The reduction in a forest\u2019s ability to perform ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and water regulation, due to natural and anthropogenic changes.\r\n"},"75":{"name":"degraded","description":"The reduction in a forest\u2019s ability to perform ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and water regulation, due to natural and anthropogenic changes.\r\n"},"79":{"name":"disturbances","description":"A discrete event that changes the structure of a forest ecosystem.\r\n"},"68":{"name":"disturbed","description":"A discrete event that changes the structure of a forest ecosystem.\r\n"},"65":{"name":"driver of tree cover loss","description":"The direct cause of forest disturbance.\r\n"},"70":{"name":"drivers of loss","description":"The direct cause of forest disturbance.\r\n"},"81":{"name":"drivers of tree cover loss","description":"The direct cause of forest disturbance.\r\n"},"102":{"name":"evapotranspiration","description":"When solar energy hitting a forest converts liquid water into water vapor (carrying energy as latent heat) through evaporation and transpiration.\r\n"},"2":{"name":"forest","description":"Forests include tree cover greater than 30 percent tree canopy density and greater than 5 meters in height as mapped at a 30-meter Landsat pixel scale.\r\n"},"3":{"name":"forest concession","description":"A legal agreement allowing an entity the right to manage a public forest for production purposes.\r\n"},"90":{"name":"forest concessions","description":"A legal agreement allowing an entity the right to manage a public forest for production purposes.\r\n"},"53":{"name":"forest degradation","description":"The reduction in a forest\u2019s ability to perform ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and water regulation, due to natural and anthropogenic changes.\r\n"},"54":{"name":"forest disturbance","description":"A discrete event that changes the structure of a forest ecosystem.\r\n"},"100":{"name":"forest disturbances","description":"A discrete event that changes the structure of a forest ecosystem.\r\n"},"5":{"name":"forest fragmentation","description":"The breaking of large, contiguous forests into smaller pieces, with other land cover types interspersed.\r\n"},"6":{"name":"forest management plan","description":"A plan that documents the stewardship and use of forests and other wooded land to meet environmental, economic, social, and cultural objectives. Such plans are typically implemented by companies in forest concessions.\r\n"},"62":{"name":"forests","description":"Forests include tree cover greater than 30 percent tree canopy density and greater than 5 meters in height as mapped at a 30-meter Landsat pixel scale.\r\n"},"69":{"name":"fragmentation","description":"The breaking of large, contiguous forests into smaller pieces, with other land cover types interspersed.\r\n"},"80":{"name":"fragmented","description":"The breaking of large, contiguous forests into smaller pieces, with other land cover types interspersed.\r\n"},"74":{"name":"gain","description":"The establishment of tree canopy in an area that previously had no tree cover. Tree cover gain may indicate a number of potential activities, including natural forest growth or the crop rotation cycle of tree plantations.\r\n"},"143":{"name":"global land squeeze","description":"Pressure on finite land resources to produce food, feed and fuel for a growing human population while also sustaining biodiversity and providing ecosystem services.\r\n"},"7":{"name":"hectare","description":"One hectare equals 100 square meters, 2.47 acres, or 0.01 square kilometers and is about the size of a rugby field. A football pitch is slightly smaller than a hectare (pitches are between 0.62 and 0.82 hectares).\r\n"},"66":{"name":"hectares","description":"One hectare equals 100 square meters, 2.47 acres, or 0.01 square kilometers and is about the size of a rugby field. A football pitch is slightly smaller than a hectare (pitches are between 0.62 and 0.82 hectares).\r\n"},"67":{"name":"intact","description":"A forest that contains no signs of human activity or habitat fragmentation as determined by remote sensing images and is large enough to maintain all native biological biodiversity.\r\n"},"78":{"name":"intact forest","description":"A forest that contains no signs of human activity or habitat fragmentation as determined by remote sensing images and is large enough to maintain all native biological biodiversity.\r\n"},"8":{"name":"intact forests","description":"A forest that contains no signs of human activity or habitat fragmentation as determined by remote sensing images and is large enough to maintain all native biological biodiversity.\r\n"},"55":{"name":"land and environmental defenders","description":"People who peacefully promote and protect rights related to land and\/or the environment.\r\n"},"9":{"name":"loss driver","description":"The direct cause of forest disturbance.\r\n"},"10":{"name":"low tree canopy density","description":"Less than 30 percent tree canopy density.\r\n"},"84":{"name":"managed forest concession","description":"Areas where governments have given rights to private companies to harvest timber and other wood products from natural forests on public lands.\r\n"},"83":{"name":"managed forest concession maps for nine countries","description":"Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Indonesia, Liberia, and the Republic of the Congo\r\n"},"104":{"name":"managed natural forests","description":"Naturally regenerated forests with signs of management, including logging, clear cuts, etc.\r\n"},"91":{"name":"megacities","description":"A city with more than 10 million people.\r\n"},"57":{"name":"megacity","description":"A city with more than 10 million people."},"56":{"name":"mosaic restoration","description":"Restoration that integrates trees into mixed-use landscapes, such as agricultural lands and settlements, where trees can support people through improved water quality, increased soil fertility, and other ecosystem services. This type of restoration is more likely in deforested or degraded forest landscapes with moderate population density (10\u2013100 people per square kilometer). "},"86":{"name":"natural","description":"A forest that is grown without human intervention.\r\n"},"12":{"name":"natural forest","description":"A forest that is grown without human intervention.\r\n"},"63":{"name":"natural forests","description":"A forest that is grown without human intervention.\r\n"},"144":{"name":"open canopy systems","description":"Individual tree crowns that do not overlap to form a continuous canopy layer.\r\n"},"82":{"name":"persistent gain","description":"Forests that have experienced one gain event from 2001 to 2016.\r\n"},"13":{"name":"persistent loss and gain","description":"Forests that have experienced one loss or one gain event from 2001 to 2016."},"97":{"name":"plantation","description":"An area in which trees have been planted, generally for commercial purposes.\u0026nbsp;\r\n"},"93":{"name":"plantations","description":"An area in which trees have been planted, generally for commercial purposes.\u0026nbsp;\r\n"},"88":{"name":"planted","description":"A forest composed of trees that have been deliberately planted and\/or seeded by humans.\r\n"},"14":{"name":"planted forest","description":"Stand of planted trees \u2014 other than tree crops \u2014 grown for wood and wood fiber production or for ecosystem protection against wind and\/or soil erosion.\r\n"},"73":{"name":"planted forests","description":"Stand of planted trees \u2014 other than tree crops \u2014 grown for wood and wood fiber production or for ecosystem protection against wind and\/or soil erosion."},"148":{"name":"planted trees","description":"Stand of trees established through planting, including both planted forest and tree crops."},"149":{"name":"Planted trees","description":"Stand of trees established through planting, including both planted forest and tree crops."},"15":{"name":"primary forest","description":"Old-growth forests that are typically high in carbon stock and rich in biodiversity. The GFR uses a humid tropical primary rainforest data set, representing forests in the humid tropics that have not been cleared in recent years.\r\n"},"64":{"name":"primary forests","description":"Old-growth forests that are typically high in carbon stock and rich in biodiversity. The GFR uses a humid tropical primary rainforest data set, representing forests in the humid tropics that have not been cleared in recent years.\r\n"},"58":{"name":"production forest","description":"A forest where the primary management objective is to produce timber, pulp, fuelwood, and\/or nonwood forest products."},"89":{"name":"production forests","description":"A forest where the primary management objective is to produce timber, pulp, fuelwood, and\/or nonwood forest products.\r\n"},"87":{"name":"seminatural","description":"A managed forest modified by humans, which can have a different species composition from surrounding natural forests.\r\n"},"59":{"name":"seminatural forests","description":"A managed forest modified by humans, which can have a different species composition from surrounding natural forests. "},"96":{"name":"shifting agriculture","description":"Temporary loss or permanent deforestation due to small- and medium-scale agriculture.\r\n"},"103":{"name":"surface roughness","description":"Surface roughness of forests creates\u0026nbsp;turbulence that slows near-surface winds and cools the land as it lifts heat from low-albedo leaves and moisture from evapotranspiration high into the atmosphere and slows otherwise-drying winds. \r\n"},"17":{"name":"tree cover","description":"All vegetation greater than five meters in height and may take the form of natural forests or plantations across a range of canopy densities. Unless otherwise specified, the GFR uses greater than 30 percent tree canopy density for calculations.\r\n"},"71":{"name":"tree cover canopy density is low","description":"Less than 30 percent tree canopy density.\r\n"},"60":{"name":"tree cover gain","description":"The establishment of tree canopy in an area that previously had no tree cover. Tree cover gain may indicate a number of potential activities, including natural forest growth or the crop rotation cycle of tree plantations.\u0026nbsp;As such, tree cover gain does not equate to restoration.\r\n"},"18":{"name":"tree cover loss","description":"The removal or mortality of tree cover, which can be due to a variety of factors, including mechanical harvesting, fire, disease, or storm damage. As such, loss does not equate to deforestation.\r\n"},"150":{"name":"tree crops","description":"Stand of perennial trees that produce agricultural products, such as rubber, oil palm, coffee, coconut, cocoa and orchards."},"19":{"name":"tree plantation","description":"An agricultural plantation of fast-growing tree species on short rotations for the production of timber, pulp, or fruit.\r\n"},"72":{"name":"tree plantations","description":"An agricultural plantation of fast-growing tree species on short rotations for the production of timber, pulp, or fruit.\r\n"},"85":{"name":"trees outside forests","description":"Trees found in urban areas, alongside roads, or within agricultural land\u0026nbsp;are often referred to as Trees Outside Forests (TOF).\u202f\r\n"},"151":{"name":"unmanaged","description":"Naturally regenerated forests without any signs of management, including primary forest."},"105":{"name":"unmanaged natural forests","description":"Naturally regenerated forests without any signs of management, including primary forest.\r\n"}}}

Citation

“Forest Loss Indicator.” Global Forest Review, updated April 4, 2024. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. Available online at https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/forest-loss.

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