Global Forest Watch

🌍 The 2025 Global Tree Cover Loss Map update from the Global Land Analysis & Discovery laboratory at the University of Maryland (UMD GLAD) in collaboration with Global Forest Watch at the World Resources Institute is now available! This latest release provides valuable insights into global forest change, helping researchers, policymakers, and environmental practitioners better understand patterns of tree cover loss worldwide. Explore and download the data here: 🌲 Global Tree Cover Loss: https://lnkd.in/di3qhPN7 🔥 Global Tree Cover Loss Due to Fire: https://lnkd.in/ePrHuMpN Access to timely, high-quality forest monitoring data is essential for supporting conservation efforts, climate action, and sustainable land management. Take a look and explore the latest updates! #ForestMonitoring #TreeCoverLoss #Deforestation #RemoteSensing #GIS #ClimateAction #GLAD #GlobalForestChange #Sustainability #EarthObservation #GlobalForestWatch Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland

NEW: Tropical primary rainforest loss fell 36% in 2025 from the record highs of 2024, but fires pose a growing threat.   The latest #TreeCoverLoss data from the Global Land Analysis & Discovery laboratory at the University of Maryland (UMD GLAD) is now available on Global Forest Watch, and it offers both encouraging signs and reasons for concern.   In 2025, the tropics lost 4.3 million hectares of primary forest, equivalent to 11 football fields every minute. While that marks a significant decline from last year, tropical primary forest loss is still 46% higher than it was a decade ago. Agricultural expansion remains the leading driver across the tropics.   Fires are also playing an increasingly central role. They accounted for 42% of global tree cover loss, and 38% of tropical primary forest loss in 2025—down from nearly half (48%) in 2024, but still alarmingly high.   The data reinforces two things. Strong policies and enforcement can curb forest loss. But climate-driven fires are becoming a dangerous new normal, one that could quickly reverse recent gains.   Explore more about the findings: https://gfw.global/tcl25

🌳What were the defining trends in forest loss in 2025? Join World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch for a deep dive into the latest annual tree cover loss data from the Global Land Analysis & Discovery laboratory at the University of Maryland (UMD GLAD). 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/eJbGcyn6 This year’s event will also spotlight three pivotal themes shaping forest trends. Plus, we’ll provide a look at how #TreeCoverLoss data is being integrated into Global Nature Watch, a new innovative, open, AI-powered system developed by WRI that combines peer-reviewed research from WRI and partners in a simple, chat-style interface to make land data more accessible and actionable. Keynote: Frances Seymour, Senior Policy Advisor, Woodwell Climate Research Center Host: RODNEY TAYLOR Taylor, Global Director, Forests and Nature Protection Program, WRI Data Presentation: Elizabeth Goldman, Co-Director, Global Forest Watch, WRI Sarah Carter, Research Associate, Global Forest Watch, WRI Speakers: Hidayah Hamzah, Peat and Forest Monitoring Senior Manager, WRI Indonesia Joaquin Carrizosa PhD., Senior Advisor, WRI Colombia Dr. Jean Bakouma, Republic of Congo Country Manager and Lead Economist for the Congo Basin, WRI Mirela Sandrini, Executive Director, WRI Brasil Moderator: Téodyl NKUINTCHUA, PhD Nkuintchua, Congo Basin Strategy and Engagement Leader, WRI Africa

Tropical primary forest loss declined in 2025, driven largely by Brazil. However, climate-driven fires are a dangerous new normal, threatening to reverse this progress.    2025 #TreeCoverLoss data from Global Land Analysis & Discovery laboratory at the University of Maryland (UMD GLAD) is now available on Global Forest Watch, and it reveals a promising sign that strong policies and enforcement can work.    “A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging — it shows what decisive government action can achieve,” shares Global Forest Watch Co-Director Elizabeth Goldman. “But part of the decline reflects a lull after an extreme fire year. Fires and climate change are feeding off each other, and with El Niño on the horizon for 2026, investments in prevention and response will be critical as extreme fire conditions become the norm.”     Read the full analysis here on World Resources Institute's living report on forests, the Global Forest Review 👉 https://lnkd.in/erAxiNxq    🌎Explore the data on Global Forest Watch: https://lnkd.in/eJqfAVSg 🌍Learn more about how the data compares to other national estimates: https://lnkd.in/eMZaiTij 🌏Check out the data on WRI’s new innovative, AI-powered system: https://lnkd.in/eKnVsJtn Our thanks to WRI Africa, WRI Brasil, WRI Colombia, World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia and World Resources Institute Europe for their invaluable contributions to this analysis.

WRI Climate event this Thursday, April 30! Registration information below ⬇️

🙌🏿 Today, we proudly launch #TerraFund’s third cohort of 53 locally rooted restoration champions. These leaders will restore Africa’s most vital landscapes across Burundi, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda. In close collaboration with TerraFund’s partners Realize Impact, Vumbuzi Impact Africa Foundation and One Tree Planted, these community non-profits and local enterprises will: 🌱Grow 6,061,000 trees  🌲Restore 16,200 hectares  👏🏾Create 13,200 jobs  💰Directly benefit 60,600 people This cohort represents the highest quality and most targeted investment in the #RestoreLocal landscapes to date — proof that locally led restoration is the most effective way to revive land, strengthen livelihoods and protect biodiversity. Check out TerraFund’s journey since 2021👉🏿 https://bit.ly/41z4suX 

🌿 Environmental defenders risk their lives to protect vital ecosystems that sustain their communities and our world. Standing on the front lines of the global climate fight, they face corruption, intimidation, criminalization, threats and even murder. Yet WRI Climate research shows they remain largely shut out of formal climate frameworks – so valuable perspectives that could lead to better climate outcomes go unheard. What would it take to shift this paradigm? Join our webinar to hear from real-world defenders and explore ways to catalyze their meaningful participation in climate decision-making while ensuring their protection around the world. Register here👉 https://bit.ly/4swztdV #ClimateAction #ClimateAdvocacy #ClimatePolicy #ClimateDefenders #EHRDs #HumanRights #ClimateSolutions #ClimateImpact #LEAD

Are you in DC? Are you attending #DCClimateWeek? Join us tomorrow at the DCCW Leadership Forum at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Our own Fred Stolle will be speaking during Nature, Biodiversity and Restoration (3:50–4:40pm), a session focused on why nature is our most essential climate infrastructure—from protecting communities against extreme weather to supporting biodiversity and absorbing carbon at scale. The conversation will explore the state of nature today, key drivers of biodiversity loss, and how restoration and nature-based solutions can deliver resilient, equitable climate outcomes. Fred will bring insights from global forest data and share what it takes to turn data into real-world action. Learn more: https://luma.com/agumtpto 🌱 World Resources Institute Global Forest Watch DC Climate Week #DCCW2026

📢 Tomorrow! There's still time to register for our event with Nature Crime Alliance focused on how geospatial monitoring is being used to address forest crime ⬇️

⚠️A proposed 'no-risk' category to #EUDR could reduce the regulation’s effectiveness significantly⚠️ Here's why👇 At the end of April, the European Commission will publish its simplification review of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), a landmark law designed to curb deforestation globally. Various interest groups are increasing pressure to reopen or weaken key provisions. Many are focused on the idea of introducing a no-risk category to the law’s country benchmarking system. But this category would undermine the regulation's efforts, creating laundering loopholes and adding more uncertainty for businesses. 🌲We outline why a no-risk category jeopardizes the EUDR’s effectiveness: https://bit.ly/4vnlN7S