Tracking Europe’s forests through FAO’s remote sensing survey

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has trained European experts in advanced remote sensing methodologies that will help generate consistent, comparable and high-quality data on the region’s forests.

At a week-long training event hosted by the French National Institute for Geographic and Forest Information (IGN) in Saint-Mandé in May, 12 experts from France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine learned to use Collect Earth Online (CEO) – an open-source software for satellite image interpretation – to collect data for assessing forest extent, trends and drivers of change from 2000 to 2024 based on a statistical sample. 

This data collection effort contributes to FAO’s Remote Sensing Survey, a key component of the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), which provides essential data on the extent, condition, management and use of forest resources worldwide.

“Remote sensing is an indispensable tool for monitoring forest cover and detecting land use changes over time, and FAO is working to collect a harmonized dataset to assess forest status and trends at global level,” said FAO Forestry Officer Anne Branthomme.

Interpreting regional land-use dynamics with satellite imagery

After opening remarks from Bertrand Pailhès, Head of Data, Mapping and Forest operations at the Institute, training participants received an overview of the Global Forest Resources Assessment’s remote sensing survey methodology and tools, followed by hands-on sessions on CEO configuration, land use and land use change classification, and photointerpretation techniques. 

Each participant collected and analyzed satellite data from their own country. In addition, a knowledge exchange among countries saw presentations from France, Sweden and Germany highlighting state-of-the-art applications to national forest monitoring.

FAO introduced the Open Foris suite of free open-source solutions developed for forest and land monitoring, and the event concluded with continued data collection and discussions on next steps.

FAO’s global remote sensing survey

Since 1948, FAO has conducted global and regional forest resources assessments to support decision-making and recommendations by governments, civil society, the private sector and international conventions. These assessments rely on information provided by countries using standardized country reports. Since 1990, they have been complemented by an independent and thorough analysis of forest area and its changes over time using remote sensing techniques. 

The FRA 2025 remote sensing survey will deliver updated, reliable and consistent estimates of forest areas and changes at global, regional and biome levels up through 2024. Scheduled for release in 2026, it will also introduce new information on agroforestry systems, pastoral systems, crop types, burned forests, mangroves and trees outside of forests.