ACC News Brief
Conservation Tropics
Protected tropical forests lost more than 4 million hectares to stand-replacing fire
What happened
Researchers estimate that stand-replacing fires affected more than 4 million hectares across over 9,700 protected tropical areas from 2001 through 2024. Annual burned area was about nine times higher after 2016, and nearly one-third of the total occurred in 2024.
Why it matters
Protected status can reduce some pressures, but it cannot fully isolate forests from extreme fire, drought, land-use spillovers, or weak enforcement. Large canopy-replacing fires threaten carbon storage, biodiversity, water cycles, and nearby communities.
What to watch
- Whether the sharp 2024 increase persists and how much is linked to drought, ignition, and land-use conditions.
- Fire prevention, Indigenous and community stewardship, enforcement, and restoration inside and around protected areas.
- The satellite method identifies stand-replacing fire, not every fire or every ecological impact.
Sources & evidence
- Wildfires destroyed area of tropical forest almost nine times larger after 2016University of Sheffield research summary published August 14, 2026, reporting protected-area fire trends and regional distribution.
- Global Change Biology study recordPeer-reviewed study underlying the protected tropical forest fire analysis.
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