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Tropical forest loss eases after record year: researchers

By AFP
April 30, 2026
An aerial view shows a tree in the middle of degraded forest on the border between Amazonia and Cerrado in Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso state, Brazil July 28, 2021. Picture taken July 28, 2021 with a drone. — Reuters
An aerial view shows a tree in the middle of degraded forest on the border between Amazonia and Cerrado in Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso state, Brazil July 28, 2021. Picture taken July 28, 2021 with a drone. — Reuters

PARIS, France: The pace of tropical forest destruction slowed in 2025 after record losses the year before but remained at worrying levels equivalent to 11 football fields per minute, researchers said on Wednesday. The world lost 4.3 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest last year -- down 36 per cent from 2024, said researchers from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the University of Maryland.