Paris: An area of pristine rainforest the size of the Netherlands was burned or hacked down last year, as the destruction of the planet’s tropical forests accelerated despite a global economic slowdown, according to research Wednesday.
The worst losses were in Brazil, three times higher than the next highest country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a report from Global Forest Watch based on satellite data.
Across the tropics, the study registered the destruction in 2020 of 4.2 million hectares (10.4 million acres) of primary forest — 12 percent higher than the year before.
Ecosystems straddling the equator shelter abundant biodiversity and store vast amounts of carbon.
In total, the tropics lost 12.2 million hectares of tree cover — including forests and plantations — last year, driven largely by agriculture.
But researchers said extreme heat and drought also stoked huge fires that consumed swathes of forest across Australia, Siberia and deep into…
