As global warming and industrialization threaten forests worldwide, countries like China, Russia, India, and Türkiye rank among those that have increased their forests the most in the last decade, with Türkiye ranking fourth globally in forested areas.

Some 4.14 billion hectares (10.2 billion acres) of land worldwide are covered by forests, making up 32% of the global land area, according to data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment data, compiled by Anadolu.

The forested area per capita was 0.5 hectares, while tropical regions made up 45% of the world’s forests.

Forested areas in Europe covered 25% of the world’s total, while South America boasted the highest forest density on land.

The report showed that 54% of the world’s forests are in just five countries, namely Russia, Brazil, Canada, the US, and China.

In 1990-2000, the annual net loss of forested areas worldwide reached 10.7 million hectares, declining to 4.12 million hectares in 2015-2025. “The increase in forested areas in Asia slowed over recent years, while forested areas in South America significantly declined.”

A total of 489 million hectares of forest area worldwide had been lost to deforestation by 1990, while the rate of forest expansion declined from an annual average of 9.88 million hectares in 2000-2015 to an average of 6.78 million hectares in 2015-2025, the report showed.

Naturally regenerated forests covered 3.83 billion hectares, making up 92% of the world’s total forest area—this also decreased by 324 million hectares in 1990-2025, with the net loss rate falling from 13.8 million hectares per year in 1990-2000 to 6.97 million hectares per year in 2015-2025.

CHINA LEADS WITH LARGEST FOREST AREA INCREASE

China increased its forested areas by 1.6 million hectares annually over the last 10 years, followed by Russia with 942,000 hectares and India with 191,000 hectares.

At the same time, Türkiye increased its forested areas by 118,000 hectares (or by 0.53%) annually, ranking first in Europe and fourth worldwide.

Australia followed Türkiye with 105,000 hectares, France with 95,900 hectares, Indonesia with 94,100 hectares, South Africa with 87,600 hectares, Canada with 82,500 hectares, and Vietnam with 72,800 hectares.

Meanwhile, Brazil saw the largest forest losses with an average annual loss of 2.9 million hectares in 2015-2025, according to the report.

Following Brazil, Angola lost 510,000 hectares per year, Tanzania 469,000 hectares, Myanmar 290,000 hectares, Congo 283,000 hectares, and Mozambique 267,000 hectares of forest area.

At the same time, Cambodia lost 251,000 hectares, Peru 239,000 hectares, Bolivia 232,000 hectares, and Paraguay 207,000 hectares.

The countries that lost the most forest area worldwide in the last 10 years were in South America and Africa, except for Cambodia.

The FAO report says that wildfires are the most significant factor affecting forests, as 130 million hectares were impacted by fires on average per year in 2007-2019.

In 2020 alone, insects, diseases, and severe weather events impacted 41 million hectares.

The total area of forests in legally protected areas worldwide is estimated to be 813 million hectares, accounting for approximately 20% of total forest area.

Published December 10,2025

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The Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation) and the Agency for Youth Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed on Wednesday a cooperation agreement for the Science Tashkent project.

The agreement was signed as part of Take Off Istanbul Startup Summit, for which Anadolu is the global communications partner.

The two-day summit, starting on Wednesday, is being held at the Istanbul Exhibition Center under the leadership of the T3 Foundation, the Industry and Technology Ministry, and Türkiye’s Investment and Finance Office.

Held for the eighth time this year, the summit brings together more than 500 startups and over 250 investors from 40 countries, with new cooperation agreements also being signed during the event.

The Science Tashkent project, to be implemented in cooperation with the T3 Foundation and Agency for Youth Affairs, will include workshops in natural sciences, design, astronomy, aviation, space, technology and mathematics.

Published December 10,2025

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Türkiye’s benchmark stock index opened Wednesday at 11,273.34 points, increasing by 0.31% or 34.98 points from the previous close.

On Tuesday, the BIST 100 rose 0.44% to close at 11,238.36 points, with a daily transaction volume of 131 billion Turkish liras ($3.07 billion).

As of 10 am local time (0700GMT), exchange rates stood at 42.6005 Turkish liras to the US dollar, 49.6030 to the euro, and 56.7620 to the British pound.

The price of an ounce of gold was $4,206.70, while Brent crude oil was trading at $61.95 per barrel.

Published December 10,2025

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Turkish first lady Emine Erdoğan called out Israel for intentionally targeting journalists in the Gaza Strip, saying Israel is suppressing the truth.

Speaking at the Turkish Communications Directorate’s “Women Witnesses of Genocide: Media and Resistance in Gaza” program, Erdoğan said Israel has killed close to 300 journalists in two years, including 37 women, calling the figures unprecedented in modern conflict reporting.

Before the program, Erdoğan viewed an exhibit featuring photos of journalists who were killed. She also welcomed Palestinian reporters and filmmaker Basel Adra, whose documentary No Other Land has received international recognition.

Erdoğan praised Adra’s work for drawing global attention to the long-term displacement and violence faced by Palestinians.

She said Israel has bombed journalists’ homes, targeted reporters with drones in hospital courtyards, and detained others under harsh conditions, adding these actions reflect a broader attempt to restrict any documentation of events on the ground.

“They are placing truth under blockade. Instead of protecting journalists, they disregard international law and norms and deliberately target them,” she said.

“Consider this: the Israeli army bombed the homes of Palestinian journalists to intimidate them. They wiped them out along with their families and neighbors. Even in hospital courtyards, which should be the safest places, they killed journalists with drones. Those they could not kill were left to die in prisons that have become factories of some of the worst atrocities in history.”

“To prevent the truth from reaching the world, Israel carried out a systematic field execution policy. Not satisfied with that, they labeled the journalists they killed ‘terrorists’ to justify their crimes. They shut down the offices of national media outlets such as Al Jazeera, calling them a ‘national threat’.”

Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said journalists in Gaza continued reporting despite losing family members and colleagues.

He said Western media organizations contributed to information suppression by adopting editorial approaches that downplayed or ignored developments in Gaza.

“Journalists lost their families and colleagues. They went hungry and thirsty, but they never gave up on one thing: delivering the truth to the world and telling the story of Palestine. They succeeded despite everything. Despite the different stances taken by some Western-centered international media outlets, they succeeded,” he said.

“These outlets systematically turned into propaganda tools of genocide through disinformation, manipulation, blackout tactics, and false reporting. This did not happen only in conventional media. Supportive actions toward Israel in digital media also became shameful marks in history. Social media companies used algorithms as weapons, building digital walls to silence Palestinian voices,” he added.

Duran acknowledged the work of Turkish media organizations, including state broadcaster TRT and Anadolu, for maintaining regular reporting from Gaza and supporting Palestinian journalists.

He said the events in Gaza have demonstrated the need for stronger national control over digital infrastructure and data systems.

“The Gaza crisis has shown that digital sovereignty is directly connected to national security,” said Duran, noting that Türkiye is working to expand local platforms and reinforce domestic data networks.