Deforestation in Brazil and Colombia has plummeted following changes in political leadership, according to analysis by the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) in partnership with the University of Maryland, US.
Tree loss in the Brazilian Amazon fell 39% when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took the reins last year, the data showed. In Colombia, logging has fallen by almost half under premier Gustavo Petro.
The WRI, however, said that the bigger picture was one of “two forward, two steps back”, with gains wiped out by felling and fires in places such as Bolivia, Laos and Nicaragua. Losses in 2023 totalled 37,000 sq km (14,200 sq miles), equivalent to 10 football pitches every minute.
“Steep declines in the Brazilian Amazon and Colombia show that progress is possible, but increasing forest loss in other areas has largely counteracted that progress,” said Mikaela Weisse, the WRI’s global forest watch director. “We must learn from the countries that are successfully slowing deforestation.”
Image: Diego Guzmán
