By Milliam Murigi
The world is losing forests at a slower rate than in previous decades, but they remain under mounting pressure, according to the latest United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2025.
The report released every five years shows that the annual rate of deforestation fell from 17.6 million hectares in the 1990s to 10.9 million hectares between 2015 and 2025, a notable improvement, but still far from the goal of halting forest loss entirely.
Globally, forests now cover about 4.14 billion hectares, representing roughly one-third of the Earth’s land area. Yet, FAO warns that this natural heritage remains under mounting pressure from agricultural expansion, infrastructure development and unsustainable logging.
“With the rate of net forest loss of 4.12 million ha per year, we see that much work still needs to be done. The pledges of 91 countries and areas reported to FRA 2025 to restore up to 190 million hectares of degraded forest in the next few decades are a great step in the right direction,” stated QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General in the report’s Foreword.
Since 1990, an estimated 489 million hectares of forest have been lost, underscoring the scale of the challenge. The rate of forest expansion has also decreased, from 9.88 million hectares annually in 2000–2015 to 6.78 million in 2015–2025.
According to the report, deforestation has slowed in every region of the world. South America, historically the epicentre of forest loss, cut its annual deforestation rate by nearly half from 8.2 million hectares a year in the 1990s to 4.2 million hectares in the last decade. Africa’s losses also eased from 4.08 to 3.45 million hectares annually, while Asia saw its rate decline from nearly 4 million to just over 2 million hectares per year.
“In Europe and parts of Asia, total forest area has actually increased thanks to large-scale tree-planting programmes and stricter land-use regulations. Countries such as China and India have made significant investments in reforestation and restoration, contributing to the global slowdown,” reads the report.
FAO attributes this positive trend to a combination of factors: improved Forest governance, expansion of protected areas, community-based forest management, and stricter monitoring using satellite technology.
While progress has been made, the report warns that tropical regions home to the world’s richest biodiversity still account for 88 percent of global deforestation. Expanding agriculture, particularly for commodities like palm oil, soy and beef, continues to drive large-scale clearing in parts of South America, Central Africa and Southeast Asia.
“The slowdown in forest loss shows that global efforts to protect and restore forests are beginning to pay off. However, tropical forests remain under the highest pressure,” adds Dongyu.
The report warns that if current pressures continue, the world could lose much of its remaining primary tropical forest cover within decades. These forests are vital for carbon storage, rainfall regulation and sustaining millions of indigenous and local livelihoods.
In Kenya, the global conversation around sustainable forestry has recently taken centre stage. President William Ruto recently announced the government’s decision to lift a six-year ban on logging, but under new, stricter conditions. The move, he said, is designed to balance conservation with economic needs, especially the demand for timber and
wood products that support rural livelihoods.
“We cannot continue to import timber when we have mature trees rotting in our plantations,” President Ruto said during a recent address. He stressed that logging licences will be issued transparently and limited to mature trees in government plantations, ensuring that forest regeneration and conservation remain priorities.”
Environmentalists have expressed cautious optimism, urging the government to strengthen forest monitoring systems to prevent abuse of the policy. They note that Kenya’s forest cover, currently estimated at about 8.8 percent, is still below the constitutional target of 10
percent, and that any logging must be matched with accelerated replanting.
FAO reports that 91 countries have pledged to restore up to 190 million hectares of degraded forest land over the coming decades, a step in the right direction toward achieving global biodiversity and climate goals. These efforts align with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which call for reversing forest loss by 2030.
Forests are critical for carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and providing livelihoods for an estimated 1.6 billion people worldwide. Beyond environmental value, they contribute billions of dollars annually through timber, tourism and non-wood forest products such as honey, resins and medicinal plants.
Despite encouraging progress, FAO cautions that slowing deforestation is not the same as stopping it. The agency calls for continued global cooperation, stronger land-use planning, and increased investment in sustainable forest industries.
“The world is moving in the right direction, but not fast enough,” the report concludes. “Forests remain under intense pressure, and every hectare lost today makes future restoration harder and costlier.”
