Shocking figures: 18 soccer fields of virgin forest die every minute!

By Larissa Schwedes

Washington - The world's forests are disappearing at a breathtaking rate: every minute last year, an area of tropical rainforest the size of 18 soccer pitches was lost. This is according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), a think tank that operates a "Global Forest Watch" platform with extensive data from the University of Maryland.

The actual aim is to halt deforestation by 2030. But instead, more forest area is being destroyed - especially in 2024.
The actual aim is to halt deforestation by 2030. But instead, more forest area is being destroyed - especially in 2024.  © Annette Riedl/dpa

For example, 6.7 million hectares of tropical rainforests were destroyed , an area almost as large as Ireland or Bavaria. According to the analysis, this is almost twice as much as in the previous year. In the data going back to the beginning of the millennium, the forest loss in 2024 is a record.

"This is a red alert - a call to action for every country, every business and every person who cares about a livable planet," says WRI forest expert Elizabeth Goldman, according to a press release. "Our economies, our communities, our health - none of it can survive without forests."

For the first time, fire was the main reason for the destruction of tropical forests, accounting for almost 50 percent. This proportion was previously only around a fifth. According to the experts, most fires in the tropical rainforests are caused by humans, for example to prepare land for agricultural use.

Until now, agriculture has been the main driver of forest destruction.

Fires cause more emissions than air traffic

For the first time, fire was the main reason for the destruction of tropical forests, accounting for almost 50 percent.
For the first time, fire was the main reason for the destruction of tropical forests, accounting for almost 50 percent.  © Diego Cardoso/dpa

This is doubly bad news for the global climate : The fewer forests, the less carbon they can absorb. However, the fires release additional emissions: According to the World Resources Institute, this amounted to 4.1 gigatons of greenhouse gases last year - more than four times the emissions of all air traffic in 2023.

As far as the fight against deforestation is concerned, the world is far off course: four years ago, more than 140 countries pledged at the then World Climate Conference to halt deforestation and reforest massively by 2030. According to the WRI analysis, of the 20 countries with the largest areas of virgin forest, 17 countries are now losing more forest than when the pact against deforestation was signed.

More than 40 percent of deforestation last year took place in Brazil. Although there has been progress under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the threat to forests remains, the think tank notes.

An exceptional drought and high temperatures have allowed fires to spread to an unprecedented extent.