Fragmentation and Fires Are Threatening the World’s Last Intact Forests

Intact forest landscapes, or vast stretches of unbroken forested wilderness, are uniquely valuable because their scale and ecological integrity allow ecosystem services and functions to operate as a complete, self-sustaining system in ways that smaller, fragmented forests cannot. They regulate temperature and rainfall across continents, store huge amounts of carbon and provide habitat and migration pathways to support viable populations of native species. For many Indigenous Peoples, intact forest landscapes provide secure sanctuaries where traditional stewardship and ways of life can continue without disruption from outside. 

But they’re also under threat. 

According to the latest data on Global Nature Watch (formerly Global Forest Watch), the extent of the world’s intact forest landscapes decreased by 15% (195 million hectares) between 2000 and 2025. This is an area roughly the size of Mexico. 

Furthermore, intact forest landscapes are shrinking at an increasing rate globally, from an average reduction of 7.1 million hectares per year between 2000 and 2013 to an average of 9.4 million hectares per year between 2014 and 2025. 

Increasingly, human-caused fires[1] and mining, drilling and exploration are prominent drivers of the reduction in the extent of intact forest landscapes. Between 2020 and 2025, fires were the leading cause, accounting for nearly 40% of the reduction in their extent. If the trend doesn’t reverse, the world could lose much of its remaining unbroken forest tracts this century, posing problems for nature, the climate and human well-being.