Strengthening forest data collection and fire management in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Türkiye

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has provided advanced tools and training in techniques in forest data collection and forest fire management to experts from the Caucasus, Central Asia and Türkiye. 

Representatives from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan gathered in Antalya, Türkiye from 8 to 12 July 2024 for the event, which was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the General Directorate of Forestry of Türkiye.

Participants from the region will contribute to the Remote Sensing Survey (RSS) of FAO’s 2025 Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) which provides essential information for understanding the extent of forest resources, their condition, management and uses across the globe. 

“This was a key opportunity for experts from the region to come together and gain hands-on experience with the latest tools and systems,” said Anssi Pekkarinen, Senior FAO Forestry Officer. "The active involvement of countries is key for reliable interpretation of satellite data and consistent results on current land use and its changes over time.”

Enhancing data collection

Experts were involved in sessions on photointerpretation and the physics of remote sensing, as well as the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 methodology, terms and definitions. Each participant collected at least 250 RSS samples falling within their country and region of expertise with Collect Earth Online. 

In addition, Turkish experts from the International Forestry Training Centre, which hosted the event, trained participants in integrated forest fire management using an online teaching module, field applications and a forest fire fighting simulator. An overview was provided of the three core strategies of forest fire management: prevention, extinguishing and rehabilitation. 

To demonstrate the best practices on post fire restoration, a field trip was organized to Taşağıl, in Antalya province where participants were given practical instruction in post-fire management and image interpretation.

Building capacities 

To develop capacities of forestry experts from the Caucasus and Central Asian countries, the project “Enhancing the capacity of the Turkish International Forestry Training Centre” has been developed under the FAO–Türkiye Forestry Partnership Programme. The project, which runs until January 2025, supports the capacity development of the International Training Centre in Antalya to provide forestry education to interested countries, with a current focus on forest fire management. The Centre provides comprehensive training on combatting forest fires, forest fire management systems and advanced fire truck driving techniques. The project is working to enrich its training curricula by integrating gender-sensitive approaches with case studies and best practices.

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 with a standardized methodology to inform the decisions and recommendations of civil society, the private sector, governments and international conventions.

The Remote Sensing Survey, developed in 1990, is used by the Global Forest Resources Assessment to assess the status and changes in forest area and other key land uses at global, regional and biome levels with satellite imagery and remote sensing tools. The FRA 2025 Remote Sensing Survey will update data on variables from the previous cycle up to the year 2024 and collect new information on agroforestry systems, pastoral systems, types of crops, burned forests, mangroves and trees outside of forests.