Mongabay<p>A new dataset and analysis released by World Resources Institute finds global tropical forest loss jumped to a record high in 2024, with 6.7 million hectares worldwide.</p><p>In total, the area of forest lost in 2024 is nearly the size of Panama.</p><p>For the first time, fire, not agriculture, was the primary driver of primary tropical forest loss, with Latin America badly hit.</p><p>By Ruth Kamnitzer<br><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/tropical-forest-loss-hit-new-heights-in-2024-fire-a-major-driver-in-latin-america/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">news.mongabay.com/2025/05/trop</span><span class="invisible">ical-forest-loss-hit-new-heights-in-2024-fire-a-major-driver-in-latin-america/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.green/tags/News" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>News</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.green/tags/Conservation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Conservation</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.green/tags/Environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Environment</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.green/tags/LatinAmerica" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LatinAmerica</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.green/tags/Forests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Forests</span></a></p>