Remote Sensing
Since 1990, FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) complements the information collected through the country reporting process with global and regional analysis of the world’s forest resources using remote sensing. With better access to a growing archive of satellite imagery and the availability of new tools to facilitate image processing and interpretation, remote sensing has become an important tool for the assessment of status and changes in tree cover and land use. The objectives of the RSS are to:
- build country capacities to use remote sensing for forest monitoring; and
- generate independent, robust and consistent estimates of forest area and its changes over time at global, regional and biome levels.
NEW: FRA 2020 RSS released at the XV World Forestry Congress on 3 May, 2022!
FRA 2020 Remote Sensing Survey
The FRA 2020 Remote Sensing Survey (RSS) was started in 2018 in the context of FRA 2020. While the FRA 2020 RSS builds on the experiences from the previous FRA RSS, it applies recent technological developments and emphasizes incorporation of local field knowledge in the process through involvement of global network of national experts in the image interpretation process.
The report will be released at the XV World Forestry Congress and includes key findings that address:
- drivers of deforestation;
- forest area trends; and
- land-use changes.
Find out more about the FRA 2020 RSS here.