Regional workshop strengthens deforestation risk assessments in Asia-Pacific

Experts, policymakers, and practitioners from across the Asia-Pacific region gathered in Bangkok for a technical workshop aimed at enhancing capacities in forest monitoring and risk assessment. Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the event convened 22 technical delegates from seven countries, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and Viet Nam to explore innovative technical solutions and methodologies for assessing deforestation risks.

A key highlight of the workshop was Deforisk, an open-source solution developed within FAO’s AIM4Forests programme with technical support from the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). Deforisk generates deforestation risk maps using five modeling approaches, supporting evidence-based decision-making and policy action. Governments, organizations, and technical experts can use Deforisk to assess deforestation risks, plan targeted interventions, and enhance carbon accounting efforts.

Building resilience through enhanced monitoring

With deforestation and forest degradation threatening biodiversity, carbon stocks, and ecosystem services, reliable monitoring and risk assessment solutionss are crucial. Held from 17 to 21 March 2025, the workshop organized with the support of AIM4Forests and UN-REDD programmes, gathered stakeholders from government agencies, research institutions to discuss integrating risk assessment into forest monitoring and leveraging geospatial tools for better decision-making.

“Deforisk simplifies risk modelling in Thailand by integrating diverse data into an accessible platform thereby enhancing the national forest monitoring system with risk assessment, this allows identification of deforestation trend across Thailand by streamlining complex data and providing clear actionable risk output. Deforisk empower experts to improve the analysis and contribute to more effective forest conservation strategies”, said Potchanath Wannafoo, Photogrammetrist Practitioner Level of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation of Thailand.

Advancing Deforisk for greater impact

The workshop focused on the use of Deforisk v2, which introduces several enhancements over the previous version. Notably, it allows users to input their own data to create customized risk models, offering more accurate and tailored deforestation risk assessments. Additional improvements include an upgraded user interface, enhanced tutorials, and availability in French. These updates were informed by valuable feedback from users in Latin America, ensuring the tool better meets their needs.

Participants explored the various functionalities of Deforisk, testing different deforestation risk models and their parameters. They also integrated national data, such as land cover and land use maps, along with explanatory variables like proximity to forest edges, roads, and rivers. As participants ran their analyses, they observed how these variables influenced deforestation risks, gaining a deeper understanding of local dynamics.

During hands-on exercise, attendees developed deforestation risk maps using both global and national datasets, providing insights into how the data’s accuracy can shift with national data. Some experimented with additional variables, like proximity to mining areas and social forestry initiatives, demonstrating the tool's flexibility for diverse environmental and social challenges. Deforisk’s applications extend beyond carbon accounting. Indonesian participants showcased how identifying high-risk deforestation areas could support social forestry initiatives, emphasizing its relevance for both environmental protection and community-based management.

“We can use Deforisk for many applications — for instance, by integrating this data as a new key variable for our social forestry area indicators map and by doing this it can help us to identify potential social forestry areas more sensitive for deforestation risk, in line with our mitigation plan in reducing deforestation and forest degradation through social forestry programme” stated Redho Darma Satria, Area Preparation Analyst at the Directorate of Area Preparation for Social Forestry,  Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia.

_{Participants using Deforisk for deforestation risk assessment in Asia-Pacific.}

Key takeaways and next steps

The workshop concluded with discussions on country-specific action plans for integrating risk assessment into NFMS. FAO reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing technical support for sustainable forest management. The main conclusions of the workshop were:

Enhanced deforestation risk assessment: Deforisk v2 enables users to integrate custom datasets for more accuracy and relevant risk mapping, offering insights into local factors driving deforestation.

Improved data accuracy: National datasets provide more precise results than global data, reinforcing the need for localized information for better decision-making.

Exploration of explanatory variables: participants tested explanatory variables such as proximity to roads, forest edges, mining areas, and social forestry activities, enhancing the tool’s adaptability to local conditions and uncover key drivers of deforestation.

Broader applications: Beyond deforestation risk mapping, Deforisk v2 supports mitigation planning, including identifying areas for social forestry interventions, showing the tool’s potential for both environmental protection and community-based forest management.

Collaborative forest monitoring: The workshop strengthened regional cooperation among experts, policymakers, and practitioners from seven countries, promoting risk assessment integration into NFMS.

This initiative aligns with FAO’s broader efforts to help countries meet their climate action commitments under the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. By identifying high-risk deforestation areas, often linked to biodiversity loss, Deforisk enables targeted mitigation actions.