Primary forest losses threaten global climate fight

Brazil and Bolivia led global primary forest losses in 2025 as tropical woodlands shrank by 4.3 million hectares despite a 36% annual decline in the pace of destruction, with the decade-long trend showing a 46% increase in total losses, according to the World Resources Institute.

Regional breakdown of forest losses

Brazil suffered the largest absolute losses at 1.63 million hectares, representing 0.47% of its primary forest cover, the analysis showed. Bolivia followed with 620,000 hectares lost, or 1.52% of its total, while the Democratic Republic of Congo lost 560,000 hectares and Indonesia lost 300,000 hectares.

Peru recorded losses of 170,000 hectares, Cameroon 110,000 hectares, Madagascar 90,000 hectares, Colombia and Laos 80,000 hectares each, and Malaysia 70,000 hectares. Doganay Tolunay, who heads the Forest Engineering Department at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa's Forestry Faculty, told Anadolu that primary forests are ecosystems where human influence is absent or where natural regeneration has restored ecological functions long after past interventions.

Global distribution and carbon stocks

Tolunay stated that forests described in Türkiye as ancient, virgin or natural old-growth fall under the primary forest category, which covers 1.18 billion hectares worldwide — comprising 29% of total global forest cover. Europe contains the largest share with 311 million hectares, followed by South America with 299 million hectares, North and Central America with 280 million hectares, Africa with 163 million hectares, Asia with 85 million hectares and Oceania with 38 million hectares.

Primary forests are shrinking due to mining, agriculture, urbanization and logging, Tolunay said, adding that agriculture leads losses in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia while fires dominate in North America, Asia and Oceania. He noted that between 1990 and 2025, ancient forest losses reached 110 million hectares, reducing global carbon stocks and annual absorption capacity while increasing biodiversity loss and disease transmission risks from wildlife to humans.

Climate tipping points and drivers

Climate change itself is accelerating the destruction through intensifying droughts, extreme heat and dry lightning storms that spark uncontrollable fires, Tolunay warned. He identified the Amazon and boreal forests in Alaska, Canada and Russia as two of nine critical climate tipping points, stating that their destruction would make combating climate change "almost impossible" even if fossil fuel use ended immediately.

More than half of Brazil's 2.83 million hectares of forest damage between 2016 and 2024 resulted from fires deliberately set to clear agricultural land, according to the analysis. Tolunay urged consumers to prioritize certified forest products proven not to contribute to deforestation, stressing that such measures are critical for climate mitigation and preventing biodiversity collapse.