Portal to track forest monitoring launched

The Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), recently launched a portal that will help to track international capacity development support to developing countries in forest monitoring for climate action.

The portal is a one-stop shop with easy-to-access information on more than 400 forest monitoring activities in 70 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean. Users can search for information by country or region, by type of forest monitoring activities, and by donors.

“Collecting and disseminating better information on forests is vital for countries and the international community’s efforts to take targeted and effective action on climate change,” said Hiroto Mitsugi, FAO assistant director-general for Forestry.

The portal will help governments and donors identify gaps, share resources, avoid overlaps and explore opportunities for new partnerships to better address the challenges countries face as they develop their National Forest Monitoring Systems.

The portal is a milestone in the GFOI partnership. It was designed and populated by the partners leading the initiative including: Australia, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States’ SilvaCarbon Programme, the International Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), the European Space Agency (ESA), FAO and the World Bank. The platform will be maintained by the GFOI Office, hosted by FAO, with funding from Australia and Norway.