Global Intact Forests Shrink From Fires and Fragmentation
A new World Resources Institute analysis shows human-caused fires and industrial expansion have destroyed 15% of unbroken wild forests.
- By Jesse Jacobs
- July 16, 2026
Unbroken wilderness areas across the globe are rapidly disappearing, according to a recent analysis published by the World Resources Institute (WRI). The analysis, co-authored by researchers Michelle Sims, Peter Potapov, Svetlana Turubanova and Elizabeth Goldman, reveals that the world's intact forest landscapes declined by 15% between 2000 and 2025. This loss of 195 million hectares is roughly equivalent to the entire landmass of Mexico.
Writing for the WRI insights platform, the researchers warned that these essential ecosystems are shrinking at an accelerating rate. The annual loss increased from an average of 7.1 million hectares in the early 2000s to 9.4 million hectares per year between 2014 and 2025.
Since 2020, human-caused wildfires have surpassed timber harvesting as the leading driver of this ecological decline, accounting for nearly 40% of the total reduction. Sims and her co-authors noted that human encroachment, roads and agricultural expansion are making these remote forests increasingly vulnerable to fire, a trend further exacerbated by warmer, drier climates.
Other significant threats include selective logging, which makes up about 20% of the loss, and mining, drilling and resource exploration, which rose to nearly 19% of the total share.
The three nations holding the vast majority of these wild forests, Russia, Brazil and Canada, have also experienced the most severe losses. Russia alone lost 53 million hectares of intact forest during the 25-year study window.
According to the WRI team, protecting these landscapes is vital for climate stabilization. These vast forest tracts sequestered a net average of 1.62 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, representing over 30% of the global forest carbon sink.
To halt the decline, the authors advocate for stronger protection policies, legal recognition of Indigenous land rights and innovative financing tools to reward countries that keep their forests standing.
About the Author
Jesse Jacobs is Assistant Editor of EPOnline.com.