Breaking Down Tropical Forest Loss in 2023 🌴

What We’re Showing

This graphic visualizes the top 10 countries by tropical forest loss in 2023, measured in hectares. All data was sourced from the World Resources Institute (WRI).

Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use

In 2021, leaders of 145 countries pledged to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. With only six years remaining until that deadline, it’s uncertain whether the world will meet this goal. Some progress is being made, however, especially in Brazil. The 1.14M hectares it lost in 2023 is significantly lower (-36%) than the 1.77M lost in 2022.

Politics, Conflict, and Deforestation

Societal shifts can increase or decrease the rate of deforestation. Both Brazil and Colombia saw big decreases in forest loss in 2023, but this followed a few years of elevated deforestation rates.

In Brazil, the drop coincides with the transition of power from Jair Bolsonaro to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The latter leader has has pledged to end deforestation in the Amazon.

In Colombia, deforestation spiked after the country's peace agreement with FARC, which left large tracts of remote forests accessible to armed groups. The government is now negotiating with these groups with forest conservation as an explicit goal in discussions.