Yahoo TV

STORY: Less tropical forest was lost last year compared to the year before, analysis shows.

But global woodlands continue to face threats, according to the Global Forest Watch:

Mikaela Weisse/Director/Global Forest Watch

"This year we found really significant decreases in primary forest loss in Brazil and in Colombia, but unfortunately those decreases weren’t enough to actually reduce the overall rate of forest loss in the tropics. The decreases were counteracted by increases instead in countries like Bolivia, Nicaragua and Laos. Both Brazil and Colombia had changes in leadership in the past year or so and the new administrations in those countries really put forests as a priority. So in Brazil we saw a renewed emphasis on law enforcement, we saw some new policies coming into place and an action plan actually to stop deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. In Colombia there is a big renewed emphasis on forest, in particularly as part of negotiations with armed groups into the parts of the Colombian Amazon."

The report also shows a 3.2% rise in global deforestation in 2023 led by Brazil, Indonesia and Bolivia.