Restoring the Green: Where the World Is Gaining—and Losing—Its Forests

Over the past three centuries, the world has lost around 1.5 billion hectares of forest, equivalent to nearly 30% of Earth’s historical forest cover. But while the global total continues to shrink, a quiet green recovery is emerging in select countries. Nepal has increased forest cover to over 41.6% of its land thanks to community forestry. 

Vietnam, once deforested during war, now boasts 46.7% forest cover, and Costa Rica has reversed decades of logging to reach nearly 60%. Even industrial nations like France and China have expanded their forests through rewilding and strategic planting, with China now investing in the world’s largest reforestation campaigns.

The latter surely an example not just for all UK counties but the shifting sands of the Sahara in Sahel.

The gains, however, are outpaced in many regions by losses. Ivory Coast has lost a staggering 63.9% of its forest since 1990, primarily to cocoa expansion. Cambodia and Myanmar each lost more than one-quarter of their forests in the same period due to land concessions and illegal logging. 

Brazil, home to one-third of the Amazon, continues to lose vast tracts—contributing to a 15.7% decline in forest cover since 1990. In DR Congo, as with Mozambique, despite its biodiversity wealth, forests are being cleared at a rate exceeding 500,000 hectares per year, driven by poverty, charcoal demand, and insecure land tenure.

The paradox? While deforestation rates dropped by 29% globally from the 1990s to the 2010s, the damage is now concentrated in biodiversity hotspots least able to absorb the shock. To meet climate and conservation goals, countries must scale up proven reforestation successes while ensuring equity and economic alternatives in regions under pressure. Forests are more than carbon sinks—they’re lifelines. And restoring them isn't just environmental policy—it’s planetary repair.