Cameroon’s cocoa thrives in rich agroforestry systems, where cocoa trees coexist with towering forests, fruit trees like mango and avocado, and non-timber species such as bush mango and jansang. This sustainable approach preserves biodiversity and boosts ecosystem services. However, for Cameroon’s cocoa to access the EU market, its major outlet, it needs to comply with the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) which is reshaping cocoa markets by requiring proof that commodities have not been produced by converting forests to agricultural and other land uses, known as deforestation after 31 December 2020.

La Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO), en alianza con la Cooperación Alemana para el desarrollo (GIZ) y el Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM), inauguró el taller nacional que marca el comienzo de las actividades del proyecto AIM4Commodities (A4C) en Colombia. El evento se llevó a cabo los días 22 y 23 de abril en Bogotá, reuniendo a cerca de 50 participantes, incluyendo representantes de entidades gubernamentales, cooperativas cacaoteras, exportadores y socios técnicos nacionales e internacionales. 

Forests, data, and digital innovation took center stage at the Earth Observation for Forests session during the GEO Global Forum 2025 on 6 May. Co-hosted by FAO’s Forest Monitoring and Data Platforms team, alongside partners from the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Chinese Academy of Forestry, and the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), the session showcased how cutting-edge earth observation and open-source technologies are transforming the way we monitor forests, restore ecosystems, and bring transparency to global supply chains.

Bangkok - Forests across Asia and the Pacific region cover 740 million hectares, accounting for 18 percent of global forest cover. These forests are not only critical for the livelihoods of more than 450 million people, but also play a critical economic role, with annual trade in primary forest p...

The Open Foris Arena platform, a free and open-source solution, has reached a new milestone with the launch of Arena 2.0. This latest version introduces significant enhancements, making it easier to capture, store, manage, and process survey data in a secure, web-based platform—representing a major step forward in how we monitor and manage forest survey data worldwide.

To enhance a digital public infrastructure for deforestation-related trade regulations, FAO's Open Foris has developed a suite of innovative solutions to help smallholders, decision-makers, operators and third party verification actors to assess the deforestation risk related to commodity production at the plot level using innovative forest monitoring.  

El Servicio Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre (SERFOR) del Ministerio de Desarrollo Agrario y Riego, en su calidad de Autoridad Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre, y en el marco de una política de promover el acceso abierto a la información que se genera, recopila, procesa y se pone a disposición del público en general, ha publicado, inicialmente, los datos de la primera fase del Inventario Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre (INFFS) en el Catálogo de Microdatos para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAM) de la FAO.

For Forest and Water Day, FAO launched a new Digital Public Good, Open Foris Whisp, which will help Indigenous Peoples and smallholder farmers produce forest monitoring information and support compliance with deforestation regulations. The open-source solution provides insights on different datasets from satellite-derived forest, land-use and tree-cover maps, combining information to gain a more detailed understanding of a particular area.

FAO today launched two new solutions for countries to monitor and report progress towards the conservation and sustainable management of mountain ecosystems. The user-friendly solutions are designed to help countries analyse Earth Observation data for their territories and extract information on changes in the extent of mountain ecosystems. This information is needed to assess global progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15, Life on Land. The first solution, based on FAO’s platform SEPAL...

La deforestación sacude las selvas de México. Un grupo de investigadores desarrolló una herramienta que muestra con gran detalle el problema en la península de Yucatán. Echando mano de imágenes satelitales de alta resolución y plataformas accesibles como Google Earth Engine y Collect Earth, crearon el Sistema de Monitoreo de la Cobertura Forestal de la Península de Yucatán (Sicamfor). El visualizador muestra la pérdida de selvas en el sureste con mayor certeza que otras plataformas nacionales e internacionales.

El Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sostenible (CCMSS) es una asociación civil no lucrativa que trabaja con comunidades de esta región. En Bacalar, Quintana Roo, identificaron graves procesos de deforestación y notaron, al igual que algunos investigadores, que la situación era, hasta cierto punto, invisible para el Sistema de Monitoreo Forestal de la CONAFOR (Samof). En el estado vecino, Yucatán, ocurre algo similar. En el municipio de Tizimín, una zona ganadera, la selva baja caducifolia desaparece a gran velocidad, pero Global Forest Watch, herramienta internacional que en otros contextos ha evidenciado muy bien situaciones similares, no mostraba del todo el problema en la región.

Sierra Leone used Collect Earth Online (CEO) to collect data for their National Forest Inventory (NFI) field inventory sampling frame design. To support and implement their work, the team has created an 

FAO’s groundbreaking open-source technical solutions Open Foris and SEPAL have jointly won a prestigious Google Geo for Good Impact Award. FAO forest and land monitoring platforms Open Foris and SEPAL (System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land Monitoring), provide access to satellite data and processing capabilities powered by cloud-based super computers, and use Google Earth Engine technology.

La iniciativa pionera “Earth Map” de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO) que utiliza archivos de datos geoespaciales disponibles gratuitamente para realizar un seguimiento y una cartografía del medio ambiente y el clima ha sido galardonado con el pre...

The European Union's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) represents a step to reduce deforestation by mandating that companies and producers demonstrate that their products have not contributed to deforestation. However, the effectiveness of such regulatory frameworks relies on the accuracy and reliability of the data used to demonstrate compliance. Herein lies the importance of Open Foris Ground, a collaborative solution developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Google, aimed at enhancing data collection and validation processes.

The “Support to Sustainable Forestry in Sierra Leone” initiative, launched in 2023 and Funded by the European Union Delegation in Freetown with technical help from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, intends to contribute to sustainable forest management in Sierra Leone. ...

On March 21st, the International Day of Forests celebrated the pivotal role of innovation in transforming forest monitoring. A key aspect of FAO and partner countries’ innovative work is the utilization of Planet's high-resolution satellite imagery through the NICFI Satellite Da...

Today is International Day of Forests, a day designated by the United Nations to celebrate our world’s forests and their contributions to the planet. Forests...

Mobile application can help accelerate restoration efforts, enable small-holder participation in regulated markets, and bolster initiatives to demarcate customary lands

Ghana recently submitted forest-related emission reductions to ART-TREES, making it the third country to do so worldwide, and the first African country. The achievement stems from consistent efforts to improve the quality of its forest data and Measurement, reporting and Verification (MRV) to meet ART-TREES requirements, unlocking valuable climate finance.