France, May 15 -- Tropical regions lost 4.3 million hectares of primary forest during the year, an area roughly the size of Switzerland, figures from Global Forest Watch - run by the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland - showed.

The total was down 36 percent from 2024, when extreme wildfires drove tropical forest destruction to record levels. But forest loss still remained 46 percent higher than it was 10 years ago.

The equivalent of 11 football fields of primary forest continued disappearing every minute, affecting biodiversity, water supplies and carbon storage.

Global Forest Watch said current losses remain far above the level needed to meet the UN goal of ending deforestation by 2030.

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