At the 14th World Forestry Congress in Durban, South Africa, Global Forest Watch introduced new data and research, uniting tree cover loss data derived from satellite imagery and the latest statistics from FAO’s Forest Resources Assessment 2015, to reveal five critical trends shaping the future of forest landscapes.

1. CRYSTAL DAVIS, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL FOREST WATCH
FRED STOLLE, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, GLOBAL FOREST WATCH
BIG DATA, DEEP INSIGHTS
GLOBAL FOREST WATCH PRESENTS FIVE
STORIES TO WATCH
#WRIatWFC

2. WE NOW KNOW MORE ABOUT FORESTS

3. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
WE NOW KNOW MORE ABOUT FORESTS

4. BIGGER DATA, BETTER DECISIONS?
Data DecisionsInsights

5. EXAMPLE: GLOBAL FOREST CHANGE
Forest Area
Loss & Gain
Tree Cover
Loss & Gain

6. SOURCE: GLOBAL FOREST RESOURCES ASSESSMENT 2015
Country statistics
National statistics
5-year intervals
Multiple variables

7. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
Global map, 30x30 meter pixels
Annual updates
Spatial datasets can be overlaid

8. FRA “forest” UMD “tree cover”
 
 
X 
 X

9. FRA UMD
Loss Loss
No
Change
Loss
Gain
No
Change
No
Change
Gain

10. Together, we can draw deeper insights

11. FIVE STORIES TO WATCH
@globalforests
#WRIatWFC

12. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
TROPICS
TROPICS

13. TROPICAL TREE COVER
LOSS ACCELERATES
@globalforests
#WRIatWFC

14. TROPICAL FOREST LOSS
SOURCE: GLOBAL FOREST RESOURCES ASSESSMENT 2015;
HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
FRA reports 8.8 million ha of gross natural forest
loss per year (2010-2015).
80% of this loss occurred in the tropics
UMD/Google reports 10 million ha of tropical
tree cover loss in 2014

15. TROPICAL FOREST LOSS
SOURCE: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA
3-year moving average
Annual tree cover loss

16. TREE COVER LOSS INCREASING IN TROPICAL
COUNTRIES OUTSIDE BRAZIL AND INDONESIA
Countries Outside Brazil/Indonesia
Brazil
Indonesia
SOURCE: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA
*Solid line represents 3-year moving average
*Dotted line represents annual tree cover loss

17. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
MEKONG

18. THE MEKONG EMERGES
AS A HOTSPOT FOR LOSS

19. TREE COVER LOSS IN MEKONG AREA (MINUS CHINA)
CAMBODIA. LAOS, MYANMAR, VIETNAM
SOURCE: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA
3-year moving average
Annual tree cover loss

20. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
CAMBODIA

21. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
CAMBODIA TREE COVER LOSS

22. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA; WORLD BANK. RUBBER PRICES CALCULATED
BY AVG. HISTORICAL MONTHLY DATA OF WORLD COMMODITY MARKETS.
CAMBODIA TREE COVER LOSS AND GLOBAL
RUBBER PRICES

23. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
MEKONG

24. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
DEM REP OF CONGO

25. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO’S FORESTS
UNDER RISING
PRESSURES

26. TREE COVER LOSS IN THE DRC
SOURCE: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA
3-year moving average
Annual tree cover loss
~50%

27. TREE COVER LOSS ANNUAL RATES (%)
SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
(10km)

28. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

29. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

30. YANGAMBI BIOSPHERE RESERVE (30KM FROM
KISANGANI, PROVINCE ORIENTALE)

31. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

32. Kisangani
Yangambi
SOURCE: SPOT 5, 2010-03-02, (AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE, IGNFI)

33. 1km
SOURCE: SPOT 5, 2010-03-02, (AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE, IGNFI)

34. 1km
SOURCE: SPOT 5, 2010-03-02, (AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE, IGNFI)

35. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
DEM REP OF CONGO

36. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
PERU

37. ILLEGALITY IN THE
PERUVIAN AMAZON

38. SOURCE: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA
FRA DEFORESTATION IN PERU

39. TREE COVER LOSS IN PERU
SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
3-year moving average
Annual tree cover loss

40. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

41. CONVERSION TIMBER IN PERU
SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA; SKYBOX
Skybox image of the Ucayali Plantations

42. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

43. Currently working to
crowdsource a complete
temporal map of all logging
roads in the Congo Basin
•Merged datasets
•Adapted OpenStreetMap tools
•Organized Mapping parties
LoggingRoads.org

44. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
PERU

45. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
DRY LANDS

46. DRY TROPICAL FORESTS
OVERLOOKED BUT UNDER
THREAT

47. TREE COVER LOSS IN PARAGUAY
SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
3-year moving average
Annual tree cover loss

48. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

49. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

50. TROPICS
MEKONG
DEM REP OF CONGOPERU
DRY LANDS
SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
TROPICS
DRY LANDS

51. SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA

52. PROMISING
DEVELOPMENTS

53. FOREST AREA GAIN
SOURCE: GLOBAL FOREST RESOURCES ASSESSMENT 2015
Countries reporting
greatest annual
forest area gain
(2010-2015)
Annual forest area gain
Area
(000 ha)
% of 2010
forest area
1 China 1542 0.8
2 Australia 308 0.2
3 Chile 301 1.9
4 USA 275 0.1
5 Philippines 240 3.5
6 Gabon 200 0.9
7 Lao PDR 189 1.1
8 India 178 0.3
9 Viet Nam 129 0.9
10 France 113 0.7

54. PRIVATE SECTOR ACTION

55. PRIVATE SECTOR ACTION
SOURCE: HANSEN/UMD/GOOGLE/USGS/NASA
RSPO oil palm
concessions
Non-RSPO oil palm
concessions
RSPO certified
concessions show less:
•Encroachment into
protected areas
•Tree cover loss
•Primary forest loss
•Conversion of peatlands
•Fires

56. SECURING COMMUNITY FOREST RIGHTS
SOURCE: WRI PUBLICATION “SECURING RIGHTS, COMBATTING CLIMATE CHANGE”

57. SECURING COMMUNITY FOREST RIGHTS
SOURCE: WRI PUBLICATION “SECURING RIGHTS, COMBATTING CLIMATE CHANGE”

58. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

59. Thank you!
@globalforests
#WRIatWFC
CRYSTAL DAVIS, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL FOREST WATCH
FRED STOLLE, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, GLOBAL FOREST WATCH

60. PANEL DISCUSSION
Leo Bottrill, Moabi
Crystal Davis, World Resources Institute
Patrick Houdry, Airbus
Fred Stolle, World Resources Institute
Ken MacDicken, Food and Agriculture Organization (Moderator)
@globalforests
#WRIatWFC