SEPAL Forest and Land Monitoring for Climate Action

Accurate information is critical to the sustainable management of natural resources. Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land Monitoring (SEPAL) helps countries monitor and report on forests and land use. An easy-to-use interface powered by cloud-based super computers, SEPAL offers users unparalleled access to satellite data, paving the way for improved climate change mitigation plans and data-driven land-use policies.
How we work around the world
Forest monitoring takes centre stage at London Climate Action Week to advance Indigenous Peoples' rights, conservation and forest finance
03/07/2026

Forest monitoring plays a vital role in conserving forests, supporting climate action, and strengthening the land and tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples....

Norway and FAO scale up forest monitoring for climate action
24/06/2026

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today announced a new investment from Norway to strengthen forest monitoring worldwide,...

Peatland monitoring in Peru: open technology and Indigenous Peoples' knowledge in service of climate action
26/05/2026

Around the Amazonian city of Iquitos — the most populated city in the Peruvian Amazon — lie some of the largest and best-preserved tropical peatlands...

Highlights
SEPAL Highlights 2025

Check out here the progress of SEPAL activities over the last years

SEPAL users, we want to hear from you!

Help improve Open Foris SEPAL by sharing your feedback and ideas. Take our quick 5-minute survey, available in English, French and Spanish, and help shape SEPAL’s future.

Our users from Nigeria say
"It's something that you can play with, do quite a lot of analysis on, and at the end of the day, you're seeing what you're doing."
"We need to be able to identify images and prevent any changes in our forest, as well as bring out solutions quickly."
"Attending this workshop has opened us up to new prospects regarding the monitoring of land assets and vegetation in Cross River State. We're looking to partner with other sister agencies based on what we have learned.

We will use it to monitor land use, forest cover, and the impacts of agriculture."

"SEPAL has opened up my eyes to understanding land cover dynamics, so that this can inform the National Council on Climate Change on any information and data values for policymaking to help reverse climate change and deforestation in the country."
"This training on SEPAL has really been an eye- opener for us. By bringing in those new trends and geographic information systems, I believe it's going to go a long way in helping our NFMS (National Forest Monitoring System)."
"The SEPAL program has helped me understand how I to analyze changes in vegetation by mapping out vegetation cover in mangroves, rainforest, mountain, and other ecological zones".
Partners
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