Recognizing the role of forests in combatting climate change, many African countries are implementing strategies to halt deforestation and manage their forest resources sustainably. For these countries, National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS) are essential, as they provide information necessary for application in creating national forest policies, planning and sustainable development. Forest monitoring systems enable measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) functions and aim to produce high-quality, reliable data on forests, including forest-carbon estimates, that are critical to the battle against climate change caused in part by deforestation and degradation of forests. To support countries in Africa in implementing forest monitoring activities, FAO is...

The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) kicked-off a project aimed at the development of a standardized methodology, to assess drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in 6 countries in Central Africa. Deforestation and forest degradation are complex transboundary processes with many direct as well as underlying causes. A good understanding of why and where forest disturbances occur is instrumental for the development of targeted policies and actions aiming to reduce the loss of forests and the associated carbon emissions.  However, the lack of updated data reflecting the recent trends on tree...

National forest inventory (NFI) is a fundamental pillar of a multipurpose National forest monitoring system (NFMS) as it provides accurate information about the extent, distribution, composition and condition of forests and woodlands, as well as the changes taking place in these areas through time. The diversity of species, trees density, increment and removals of growing stock, biomass and carbon are all among the main attributes obtained from NFIs. These attributes are essential for measuring indicators on sustainable forest management, biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and developing and monitoring policies and guidance that support the sustainable provision of forest-related goods and services. Field...

A key pillar of the Paris Agreement is the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), which aims to raise ambitions for climate action through transparent country reporting. The development of National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS) with open and transparent data can enable action for forest and climate. In light of the climate emergency, it is time to scale up efforts toward accurate, open and transparent forest data, to catalyse higher ambitions under the Paris Agreement. The new FAO webinar “Open and Transparent Forest data: Innovation and Technology for Climate Action” will highlight global and national efforts’ on forest monitoring that support the implementation...

Rocío Cóndor is an FAO Forestry Officer working on the Enhanced Transparency Framework and coordinating the GEF-funded Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency work related to the forest sector, known as CBIT-Forest. In an interview, she reflected on the ways solid data can inform good decisions when it comes to sustainable forest management. What does your work entail? I work at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) where I support GEF-funded projects related to the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency. This initiative helps developing countries track their progress toward meeting the Paris Agreement, with tools and training to report their greenhouse gas...