FAO training boosts forest monitoring skills in Angola and Mozambique

©FAO/Abel Joaquim Pessoa

28/04/2025

Lobito (Angola) – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a workshop to train experts in Angola and Mozambique to gather data for the Remote Sensing Survey (RSS) of FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA). The FRA provides essential information for understanding the condition, extent, management and uses of forest resources across the globe.

Twenty-eight experts gathered in Lobito, on the Atlantic coast of Angola from 22 to 28 April for the training, which is funded by the European Union as a key initiative in strengthening the capacity to produce timely and high-quality data to support forest management efforts in the region.

Integrating local knowledge with cutting-edge technology

The training introduced participants to FAO’s latest methodologies for remote sensing. Experts were equipped with the tools to track changes in forest extent, trends and driving factors of change between 2000 and 2024.

Using Collect Earth Online, an open-source software for satellite image interpretation, the participants were able to refine their ability to monitor forest ecosystems to produce accurate, robust and up-to-date information on the region’s forests.

“By integrating local knowledge with advanced geospatial tools, the workshop fostered a collaborative environment that strengthens evidence-based forest monitoring and management,” said Mohamed Samy Agamy, FAO Forest Data Analyst.

FAO’s global Remote Sensing Survey

Since 1948, FAO has conducted assessments of the condition, extent, management and uses of global forest resources. The assessments compile comprehensive country reports every five years from officially nominated national correspondents using a standardized methodology. The findings of these assessments provide evidence to inform the decisions and recommendations of civil society, the private sector, governments and international conventions.

Since 1990, FAO complements FRA information collected through the country reporting process with global and regional analysis of the world’s forest resources using remote sensing. Advanced remote sensing tools and satellite imagery has allowed FAO to produce independent and thorough analyses of forest area and how it changes over time at global, regional and biome levels.

Building on the success of the FRA 2020 RSS, which was presented in 2022, FAO is now conducting a new global survey which will provide up-to-date, reliable and consistent estimates of forest area and forest area change at regional, global and global ecological zones up to the year 2024. The FRA 2025 RSS will update data on variables from the previous cycle and collect new information on agroforestry systems, pastoral systems, types of crops, burned forests, mangroves and trees outside of forests.

FRA 2025 RSS is slated for release in 2026.