Forest Monitoring

FAO at the frontline in monitoring forests and ecosystems

Every year 10 million hectares of forest are lost to deforestation.

In response, world leaders have committed to halt deforestation and restore 1 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030.

To achieve this, countries need the right data to measure progress and enable action on the ground.

FAO’s Forest Monitoring team works to bridge this gap by:

- Developing new solutions driven by innovation and technology 

- Deploying inclusive capacity development approaches to empower anyone, anywhere 

- Collecting, analysing and reporting of forest data 

- Accelerating the protection, restoration and sustainable use of forests

Highlights
Institutionalization of Forest data - Learning Journey
29/10/2025

The institutionalization of forest data (IFD) learning journey aims to create a well-defined pathway for optimizing the use of forest data while...

Blog
24/04/2026 Naila Yasmin, Neha Hunka, Nagmeldin Elhassan, Javier Garcia-Perez, Andreas Vollrath and Marieke Sandker

Forests store large amounts of carbon, so tracking how forests change is important for climate action. Countries collect data for reporting through a National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS).

Blog
06/02/2026 Pilar Valbuena, Victoria O’Brien, Till Neeff, Erik Lindquist, Andreas Vollrath, Javier Garcia-Perez Gamarra, Remi D’Annunzio, Jingjing Liang, and Julian Fox

Across virtually all industries and fields, artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative force. The same is true for forestry, where AI is reshaping how forests are monitored, managed, restored, and integrated into global supply chains.

 

23/6

2026

15-19 Bloomsbury Way (United Kingdom), 23/06/2026

Forest monitoring plays a vital role in conserving forests, supporting climate action, and strengthening the land and tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples.

10/6

2026

10/06/2026

Join this webinar, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture ...

Publications
Forest monitoring good practices: mapping tree crop commodities
Forest monitoring good practices: mapping tree crop commodities
03/06/2026

This document sets out good practices for mapping tree crop commodities – such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, palm oil and agroforestry systems – using Earth...

Forest monitoring good practices: inclusive smallholder data governance
Forest monitoring good practices: inclusive smallholder data governance
03/06/2026

This scoping study examines how smallholder production plot data is collected, managed, and shared across commodity supply chains, drawing on case studies...

Towards the institutionalization of forest data – The importance of data management and sharing
29/10/2025

This publication explores how countries can improve forest data governance by institutionalizing data management and sharing within national forest...

Assessment of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in West Africa
20/06/2025

This report presents the methodology and main findings of an assessment conducted between 2015 and 2020 to identify the primary drivers of deforestation...

Enhancing Ghana’s forest monitoring system for climate action through AIM4Forests
01/04/2025

Ghana’s commitment to sustainable forest management and climate action has been further strengthened through the assessment of needs and gaps. The application...

Enhancing sustainable forest management and climate action through the national forest monitoring system in Kenya
21/03/2025

Kenya’s National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) supports sustainable forest management and climate action by providing accurate data to guide decisions...

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