FAO training boosts forest data collection in Eastern and Southern Africa
Arusha, Tanzania - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has shared the latest tools and techniques to support data collection from satellite imagery for monitoring forests with experts from Eastern and Southern Africa.
The experts 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.
Thirty-three participants from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia attended the training week in Arusha from 8 to 12 July 2024, which was organized with the financial support of the European Union and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative.
Trainers provided an overview of methodology, terms, and definition as well as lessons on the physics of remote sensing, theory of photointerpretation, and utilizing FAO’s dedicated platform, Collect Earth Online (CEO) for data collection.
"Having reliable and up-to-date data for implementing sustainable forest management in Africa is crucial to ensuring ecosystem services that support local communities and essential biodiversity in the region,” said Valeria Contessa, Remote Sensing and GIS Specialist with FAO’s Global Forest Resource Assessment.
Regional forest area under threat
As of 2020, 7 percent of the world’s forest area was found in Eastern and Southern Africa. The average annual rate of net forest loss in Eastern and Southern Africa has grown from 1.35 million hectares per year in the 1990s to 1.91 million hectares per year from 2010 to 2020.
Deforestation in Africa is primarily driven by cropland expansion, reflecting significant demographic pressure in the region.
At the FAO training, experts from the region had the opportunity to compare satellite images with the conditions on the ground in the Arusha National Park for further practical instruction in image interpretation.
FAO’s Global Remote Sensing Survey
Since 1948, FAO has conducted periodic global forest resources assessments of the condition, extent, management, and uses of global forest resources.
First developed in 1990, the Remote Sensing Survey is used by FRA to assess the status and changes in forest area and other key land uses with satellite imagery. Using advanced remote sensing tools and satellite imagery has allowed FAO to produce independent and thorough analyses of forest areas and how they change over time at global, regional, and biome levels.
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.