Deforestation: Fewer trees were lost in Brazil and Colombia in 2023

Fewer trees have been cut down in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in the past year according to new analysis.

The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, and 60% of it is in Brazil, where tree losses were down by a huge 39% in 2023.

Colombia also slashed their forest loss by nearly half compared to 2022.

But tree losses around the world actually went up by a quarter, which Global Forest Watch say is mainly because of forest fires in Canada.

Trees are really import as, in locations like the Amazon, these forests store vast amounts of carbon that's vital for the world's efforts to limit the rise in global temperatures.

Brazil's president promised to tackle tree losses and end deforestation in the country by 2030.

In 2023, the tropics saw 3.7 million hectares of forest lost and these losses would have been far higher if it wasn't for Brazil and Colombia.

According to this new analysis, political action in both countries has had a significant impact on tree felling.

Brazil was responsible for 43% of all tropical forest loss in 2022 but Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said looking after the environment was his priority when he came into power in 2023.

Experts say although there has been great progress in places like Brazil and Colombia, the picture around the world is mixed.

There's only six years left to keep a promise to halt deforestation by 2030 made in 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow.

Fires and tree loss

Experts say tree losses are still higher than they were in the early 2010s and global forest losses were up by a quarter in 2023.

It's not just deliberate deforestation that counts towards forest loss, it also includes things like forest fires which can wipe out huge areas of trees.

The wildfires in Canada drove five times more tree losses in 2023 than in the previous year.

But researchers say human-driven deforestation is more important to tackle with places like Bolivia, Laos and Nicaragua all seeing an increase in forest loss.