Mongolia advances forest data management through Open Foris Arena

Mongolia has taken a decisive step toward modernizing its forest monitoring system by advancing the digital management of its national forest inventory (NFI) through the Open Foris Arena platform developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

With technical support from FAO under the "Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector" (CBIT-Forest)” global project, the National Forest Agency (NFA) and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change are collaborating to strengthen the capacity of government and private-sector experts to use the Arena platform, which supports survey design, mobile data collection, validation and centralized data management. The initiative also focuses on transitioning the existing national NFI database from Microsoft Access to Arena to integrate upcoming inventory cycles.

During a five-day training held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 20 national forestry experts enriched their technical skills in survey design, digital data collection, validation and analysis using Open Foris Arena and Arena Mobile. The sessions combined theory and practice, including field exercises, data management and demonstrations of Arena’s data processing chains.

Participants familiarized themselves with the country’s NFI database and tested it in the Arena environment, comparing results with the existing Microsoft Access system and identifying key areas for improvement. They also received guidance on applying validation rules, ensuring data consistency and managing cloud synchronization. These practices laid the foundation for the national adoption of Arena as Mongolia’s long-term NFI data management platform. 

The training also provided an opportunity for knowledge exchange, drawing on international experiences in Arena implementation. An online session led by Mr Lauri Vesa, NFI expert, focused on the use of Arena’s data processing chains, demonstrating how automated workflows can streamline data analysis and reporting.

Moving forward, the NFA and FAO will continue collaboration to refine the NFI database, develop the upcoming 2026 Taxation Forest Survey in Arena, and pilot the updated digital forms during the next field exercise. The planned NFI of Mongolia for 2027 will also be implemented using Arena and Arena Mobile, ensuring seamless data integration, interoperability and comparability.

This initiative underscores Mongolia’s growing commitment to strengthening national forest monitoring through innovation, technology and international cooperation, contributing to enhanced data transparency and sustainable forest management.

Through the Accelerating Innovative Monitoring for Forests (AIM4Forests) programme and with financial support from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Arena will continue to provide users with innovative solutions to efficiently collect and manage high-quality forest data.