FRA 2020 Remote Sensing Survey
Following the recommendations from the 23rd session of the Committee of Forestry (COFO), FRA 2020 conducted a participatory global remote sensing survey (FRA 2020 RSS) with the aim of improving estimates of forest area change at global and regional levels.
The FRA secretariat, in collaboration with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC) and the FAO working group on remote sensing, has developed a worldwide methodology for the FRA 2020 RSS, which can also be scaled to national assessments. The scope and the methodological design of the survey were defined according to past RSS experiences, in particular the FRA 2010 RSS. They also took advantage of technological progress as well as the increased availability of satellite imagery.
Over 35 national and regional workshops were implemented from 2018 to 2021 to train more than 800 country experts from 126 countries and collect data on 400 000 FRA remote sensing samples. Click here for more information.
RESULTS
The FRA 2020 RSS confirms an overall slowdown in global deforestation. However, the survey also shows that the impact of agricultural expansion on forests is greater than previously thought, driving almost 90 % of deforestation. Other key results of the survey include:
- Annual deforestation decreased by around 29 percent -from 11 million hectares per year in the decade 2000-2010 to 7.8 million hectares per year in the period 2010-2018
- Net forest area losses have more than halved during the survey period, decreasing from 6.8 million hectares per year in 2000-2010 to 3.1 million hectares per year in 2010-2018.
- The highest deforestation in 2000-2018 occurred in South America (68 million hectares deforested), followed by Africa (49 million hectares).
- Cropland expansion is the main driver, causing almost 50 percent of global deforestation, followed by livestock grazing, accounting for 38.5 percent. Oil palm alone accounted for 7 percent of the global deforestation from 2000 to 2018.
- Planted forest area increased by 46 million hectares in the period 2000-2018. Almost one-quarter of forests planted in this millennium replaced naturally regenerating forests.
Key outputs
Exploring our forests
See the world’s forests in a new light
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Partners
The development and implementation of the FRA 2020 RSS strongly relies on partnerships. FRA 2020 RSS counts on financial support from European Union (EU) and Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) as well as technical support from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (JRC), Google, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Spatial Informatics Group (SIG).