- Record-breaking forest loss in 2024: Tropical primary rainforest loss surged to 6.7 million hectares—nearly double the previous year—driven primarily by fire for the first time on record.
- Latin America bore the brunt: Brazil accounted for 42% of global tropical forest loss, while Bolivia saw a staggering 200% increase; Colombia experienced rising deforestation linked to land grabs and coca cultivation.
- Global implications intensify: Fires also ravaged boreal forests, pushing fire-related emissions to 4.1 gigatons—more than quadruple the emissions from global air travel in 2023. With just five years left to meet global deforestation pledges, halting forest loss will require urgent political action, strong governance, and leadership from Indigenous communities.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
If tropical rainforests are the lungs of the Earth, then 2024 was a year of respiratory failure. Fires, fueled by climate extremes and human recklessness, tore through vast stretches of forest at an unprecedented pace. According to satellite data from the University of Maryland and the World Resources Institute, 6.7 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest were lost last year—nearly double the previous year’s total, and equivalent to 18 football fields every minute.
The cause? For the first time on record, fire—not chainsaws or bulldozers—was the leading driver of tropical forest loss. This shift reflects a combustible convergence of deliberate land-clearing, soaring temperatures during a strong El Niño, and deepening drought. Nearly half of all tropical primary forest loss in 2024 was fire-related, a sharp increase from the 20% average of recent years.
Nowhere was the devastation more apparent than in Latin America. Brazil, which holds over 60% of the Amazon rainforest, accounted for 42% of global tropical forest loss. Bolivia, with a fraction of Brazil’s forest cover, experienced a 200% surge in primary forest destruction, making it the second-largest contributor globally. Colombia, less affected by fires, saw forest clearing accelerate due to land grabs and illicit coca cultivation.
The damage extended far beyond the Amazon. The Congo Basin—once relatively spared—saw record deforestation, driven by agricultural expansion, charcoal production, and weak governance. Mesoamerica experienced the highest proportional loss of any tropical region.
Globally, tree cover loss reached 30 million hectares in 2024, the highest ever recorded. Fires in boreal forests, particularly in Canada and Russia, pushed fire-related global emissions to 4.1 gigatons—more than four times the emissions from all commercial air travel the previous year.
This ecological hemorrhage comes just five years before the 2030 deadline set by the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration to halt deforestation. That goal now appears increasingly out of reach. Achieving it would require a 20% reduction in forest loss every year—starting yesterday.
Rainforests matter for far more than biodiversity. They moderate climate, regulate rainfall, buffer floods, and store hundreds of billions of tons of carbon. Their destruction accelerates planetary instability. Already, deforestation is altering rainfall patterns across South America, with cascading effects on agriculture and water supplies.
Among the world’s tropical forest regions, the Amazon remains the largest and most vital to the greatest number of people. Its vast basin generates much of its own rainfall and supports cities and croplands far beyond its boundaries. It also leads in destruction: more than 44 million hectares of primary forest have disappeared from the Amazon since 2002—an area roughly the size of Iraq.
The Congo rainforest, while smaller and historically more stable, is now following a familiar and troubling path. Infrastructure development, mining, and agricultural expansion are fragmenting what was once a contiguous green heart of Africa. In Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia are bucking the trend: both have reduced forest loss in recent years through policy reforms and fire prevention, though the longer-term toll is substantial. Sundaland—which includes Borneo and Sumatra—has lost nearly a fifth of its primary forests since 2002, much of it cleared for palm oil and wood pulp production.
Perhaps most alarming is the growing extent to which fire is consuming tropical forests. While fire has long been used to clear land, the combination of logging-related degradation, fragmentation, and drying trends has made forests far more flammable. The result: complex ecosystems reduced to ash—along with the ecological services upon which much of the world quietly depends.
Yet the outlook is not entirely bleak. Some countries have shown that deforestation can be curbed with political will, international investment, and effective governance. Indigenous communities, in particular, remain among the most capable stewards of tropical forests. Where their rights are recognized and upheld, forests tend to endure.
On this World Rainforest Day—launched in 2017 to highlight the critical role of these ecosystems—the message is urgent. The world’s rainforests are nearing a tipping point. Protecting them is no longer just an environmental imperative. It is a prerequisite for global stability.
The Amazon rainforest. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler
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