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Forest Monitoring

News
Call for Inputs: Indigenous Peoples' Experiences with Ecosystem Restoration and Monitoring

News
New FAO report strengthens the science behind peatland emissions reporting

News
FAO Technical Lecture Series highlights Open Foris solutions for forest and land monitoring

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Forest monitoring takes centre stage at London Climate Action Week to advance Indigenous Peoples' rights, conservation and forest finance

News
Norway and FAO scale up forest monitoring for climate action

News
Latin America is making progress in incorporating local communities into national forest inventories

Countries in the region exchanged good practices on the role of local communities and Indigenous Peoples in national forest inventories.

News
FAO selects 60 Young Forest Champions for 2026

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FAO issues forest monitoring good practices for tree crop commodities and smallholders

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Peatland monitoring in Peru: open technology and Indigenous Peoples' knowledge in service of climate action

News
Costa Rica advances their monitoring platform for Payment for Ecosystem Services

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When countries connect: how forest monitoring exchanges in Latin America are turning dialogue into collaboration

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FAO and JAXA extend partnership to advance forest monitoring through space data and technology

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Honduras boosts forest transparency with the publication of first and second national forest inventory cycles in FAO’s FAM Catalogue

News
Making bamboo visible: Asia-Pacific forest inventory experts improve how a fast-growing resource is measured

News
Strengthening national peatland monitoring in the Central Congo Basin through inter-agency technical workshops

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Papua New Guinea publishes national forest inventory in FAM Catalogue for strengthened forest data transparency

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Breaking down data silos: Unifying reference data collection for forest monitoring

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FAO and University of Leicester join forces to enhance integration of real-time forest alerts in SEPAL

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Customary lands for people, nature, and climate

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AIM4Forests supports Indigenous climate finance and governance strategies in Peru

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
Young Forest Champions: Indigenous and Rural Youth in Action
14/10/2025

The side event “Young Forest Champions: Indigenous and Rural Youth in Action,” held on 15 October during the World Food Forum 2025, highlighted the...

SEPAL in action: Turning satellite data into better forest decisions
22/06/2026

Forests are changing fast, and better decisions depend on reliable information. SEPAL is FAO’s open-source, cloud-based Earth observation platform that...

Blog
FAO and FCLP join forces on land tenure accountability: turning global commitments into measurable progress
07/08/2026 Ward Anseeuw, Jorge Rincon Barajas, Emelyne Cheney, Lydia Birtwistle-Sawyer, Julian Fox

Land tenure commitments are only as strong as the frameworks that track them. This simple truth sits at the heart of a new collaboration between FAO and FCLP, who are joining forces to design the monitoring methodology and reporting framework for the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment.

Blog
From forest data to climate finance: New FAO publication explores how verification helps build confidence in forest-based climate mitigation programmes
22/07/2026 Till Neeff, Catalina Becerra, Julian Fox

As countries step up efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the world’s forests, one question is becoming increasingly important: how can the reported climate benefits from forest climate change mitigation programs be verified?

 
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...

Branching out: Synergies in forest assessments and climate transparency reporting
12/12/2025

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...

An innovative financing mechanism to incentivize long-term forest conservation at scale
15/10/2025

A global methodology for the assessment of direct drivers associated with deforestation and degradation
31/07/2025

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...

CBIT-Forest II - One year in numbers
22/04/2025

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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