- Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments like Meta, Caquetá and Guaviare.
- The main drivers of deforestation include the spread of cattle ranching and agriculture, as well as illicit crops like coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine.
- Officials attributed the declining trend to collaboration with Indigenous communities and environmental zoning in rural areas, as well as ecotourism and a program providing financial incentives for communities involved in forest conservation.
Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments that have historically struggled with forest loss.
An estimated 36,280 hectares (89,650 acres) of forest were lost during the first three quarters of the year, a 25% drop from the 48,500 hectares (about 119,850 acres) recorded over the same period in 2024, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), a government agency.
The figures only account for January to September, as data for the final quarter of the year are still being processed. Officials celebrated the results while stressing the need to continue improving forest conservation strategies.
“The sustained reduction of deforestation in the Amazon is the result of collaboration between the national government and communities, through ecological restoration actions, voluntary conservation agreements, strengthening of sustainable production chains and forest management,” the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development said in a December statement.
Colombia has around 60 million hectares (148 million acres) of forest cover, representing more than half of its total land area. This includes the Amazon Rainforest and savanna ecosystems like the Orinoquía.
For decades, the country has struggled to slow the spread of cattle ranching and agriculture as well as illicit crops like coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine. In 2025, many of the worst-hit departments also saw the largest drops in forest loss, signaling progress in addressing some of these long-standing drivers.
“When the figures are low, we should take advantage and strengthen actions to reduce threats, thus ensuring that deforestation rates continue to decline,” said Luis Alfonso Ortega Fernandez, protected areas coordinator for the Ecohabitats Foundation, a conservation group in Colombia.
To measure deforestation, IDEAM analyzes data from NASA’s Landsat and the EU’s Sentinel satellite programs, which each capture periodic images of Earth’s surface. IDEAM also uses high-resolution images from Planet, a private satellite company.
Together, they show that the departments of Meta, Caquetá and Guaviare accounted for more than half of the country’s deforestation in 2025, but also had a cumulative decline of 12,983 hectares (32,082 acres) from 2024. Only Putumayo saw a rise in deforestation, with an additional 1,569 hectares (3,877 acres) reported by IDEAM.
The four departments struggled with land grabbing that resulted in illegal forest clearing, according to the IDEAM analysis. There was also coca cultivation and informal road construction that sometimes encroached on protected areas, such as the Nukak-Makú Indigenous Reserve in Guaviare and Sierra de La Macarena National Park in Meta.
Coca cultivation has been on the rise since President Gustavo Petro took office in 2022. Some experts say this has worsened deforestation, spreading into primary forest and protected areas. In contrast, others say the government has stopped forced eradication efforts in exchange for voluntary eradication, so farmers no longer have to relocate and clear new land because their crop was destroyed.
“The crops aren’t expanding, but they are being replanted,” Ortega Fernandez said.
The country saw similar deforestation improvements in 2024, when it recorded a 34% drop from the previous year. It also saw a 54% drop in 2023 and a 29% drop in 2022, according to IDEAM. To register another annual decline in 2025, there must be less than 23,959 hectares (59,204 acres) of deforestation in the final quarter of the year.
Officials attributed the declining trend to the government’s 2023-2026 Comprehensive Deforestation Containment Plan, which includes increased collaboration with Indigenous communities and environmental zoning in rural areas, to help residents better manage land-use changes.
The plan also promotes ecotourism and a program providing financial incentives for communities involved in forest conservation. Officials specifically highlighted the Conservar Paga program, which provides 5,562 families with as much as $240 a month to maintain or restore forests on their properties.
In its release, the environment ministry emphasized that its strategy will continue to center on participation with local communities, calling for the “shared responsibility of citizens and territorial entities to strengthen environmental justice” and prevent other risks like open burning, indiscriminate logging and unauthorized land-use change.
Other organizations say the government’s role is exaggerated, and that criminal groups’ enforcement of illegal logging has made the biggest difference. Dissidents of the FARC guerilla group need the forest for strategic reasons, and have reportedly begun enforcing its protection.
Ortega Fernandez also pointed out that deforestation declines shouldn’t be the sole indicator of environmental progress. In some cases, the worst threats in Colombia are harder to measure, such as illegal mining. As gold prices rise, the activity continues to spread, causing acute deforestation along with water and soil pollution.
He also said a lack of land titles for millions of Colombians makes it hard to monitor and prevent land-use change and other sources of pollution.
“It’s not only deforestation,” he said.
Banner image: Rainbows cross the Putumayo River on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
See related from this reporter:
The land deal threatening a vital piece of Bolivia’s Chiquitano dry forest
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
Credits
This story first appeared on Mongabay
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Mongabay, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.