Global Deforestation Increased, 3.2% in 2023 Despite , Tropical Forest Loss Decreasing .<br />Fox News reports that the global loss of primary <br />forests in the world's tropics declined slightly <br />in 2023 compared to the year before.<br />According to Global Forest Watch researchers, the world <br />lost about 14,000 square miles of tropical primary forest, <br />sometimes referred to as old-growth forests, in 2023.<br />Global Forest Watch (GFW) director Mikaela Weisse <br />warns that declining losses in Colombia and Brazil <br />were mostly offset by increased losses in other places.<br />The world took <br />two steps forward, <br />two steps back, Mikaela Weisse, Global Forest Watch <br />(GFW) director, via Fox News.<br />Fox News reports that scientists consider <br />tropical primary forests to be treasure troves <br />of biodiversity, with the Amazon rainforest home <br />to an estimated 10% of Earth's known species.<br />According to Weisse, tropical primary forest losses in <br />2023 caused greenhouse gas emissions equal to half <br />of the United States' annual fossil fuel emissions.<br />According to Weisse, tropical primary forest losses in <br />2023 caused greenhouse gas emissions equal to half <br />of the United States' annual fossil fuel emissions.<br />The GFW found that Brazil, the Democratic Republic <br />of Congo and Bolivia topped the list of tropical <br />nations with the most primary forest losses. .<br />Despite remaining on top of the list, forest loss in<br />Brazil fell 36% as a result of President Luiz Inacio <br />Lula da Silva's aggressive conservation policies. .<br />At the same time, Colombia experienced <br />a 49% decline in forest loss amid President <br />Gustavo Petro's environmental preservation efforts.<br />Overall, beyond just tropical primary forest loss, , global deforestation , rose 3.2% in 2023.<br />We are far off track and <br />trending in the wrong direction <br />when it comes to reducing <br />global deforestation, Rod Taylor, World Resources Institute <br />forests director, via Fox News
