State of the World's Forests 2026: 489 million hectares of forest lost to deforestation since 1990

29 September 2026

UN News reported on 28 September 2026 on the State of the World's Forests (SOFO) 2026 report.
It says 489 million hectares of forest were lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2025.
More than 460 million hectares of forests worldwide are degraded.
Restoring more than one billion hectares of degraded land could generate $1.8 trillion per year in benefits.
One-third of the global population relies on forests for food and work.