Deforestation slowed worldwide last year, but the improvement is unlikely to last as the situation deteriorates in Central Africa and an exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern intensifies, a new study said on Wednesday. Seven million hectares of forest – roughly the size of the Republic of Ireland – were permanently destroyed in 2025, a 15 per cent drop from the previous year, according to the annual Forest Declaration Assessment. The slowdown, however, is not enough to keep the world from...
SRCSouth China Morning Post
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Right
WORDS81
ENT6
WED · 2026-10-14 · 05:27 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-1014-118791
NSR-2026-1014-118791News Report·EN·Environmental
Global deforestation fell in 2025, but Congo Basin losses surged
A new study indicates that global deforestation decreased by 15% in 2025, with seven million hectares of forest lost. This represents a slowdown in the rate of destruction compared to the previous year.
Agence France-PresseSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-10-14 · 05:27 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min
South China Morning PostFIG 01
Reading time
1min
Word count
81words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
6entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01
Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
A new study indicates that global deforestation decreased by 15% in 2025, with seven million hectares of forest lost. This represents a slowdown in the rate of destruction compared to the previous year. However, the study warns that this improvement is unlikely to be sustained. The situation is worsening in the Congo Basin, and an intensified El Nino weather pattern is expected to exacerbate deforestation. The annual Forest Declaration Assessment reported these findings, highlighting the ongoing challenge of preventing further forest loss despite the recent global reduction.
Confidence 0.85Sources 1Claims 4Entities 6
§ 02
Article analysis
Model · rule-basedFraming
Environmental
Economic Impact
Tone
Measured
AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.80 / 1.00
Factual
LowHigh
Sources cited
1
Limited
FewMany
§ 03
Key claims
4 extracted01
Deforestation losses surged in the Congo Basin in 2025.
factualForest Declaration Assessment
Confidence
1.00
02
Global deforestation fell in 2025, with seven million hectares permanently destroyed, a 15% drop from the previous year.
statisticForest Declaration Assessment
Confidence
1.00
03
An exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern is intensifying.
factualForest Declaration Assessment
Confidence
0.90
04
The slowdown in global deforestation is unlikely to last.
predictionForest Declaration Assessment
Confidence
0.80
§ 04
Full report
1 min read · 81 words§ 05
Entities
6 identifiedKey playerOppositionContextPositiveNeutralNegative
Organizations1
Locations3
Events1
§ 06
Keywords & salience
7 termsdeforestation
1.00
congo basin
0.90
forest loss
0.80
el nino
0.70
climate pattern
0.60
forest declaration assessment
0.50
central africa
0.40
§ 07
Topic connections
Interactive graph Network visualization showing 3 related topics
View Full Graph Person Organization Location Event|Click node to navigate|Edge numbers = shared articles