About

Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an online platform that provides data and tools for monitoring forests. By harnessing cutting-edge technology, GFW allows anyone to access near real-time information about where and how forests are changing around the world.

WHAT IS GLOBAL FOREST WATCH?

Watch this 2 minute video

WHO USES GLOBAL FOREST WATCH?

Thousands of people around the world use GFW every day to monitor and manage forests, stop illegal deforestation and fires, call out unsustainable activities, defend their land and resources, sustainably source commodities, and conduct research at the forefront of conservation.

HOW DO PEOPLE USE GLOBAL FOREST WATCH?

Click here to learn about how others have used Global Forest Watch in their network.

You can also choose a country from the list below:

Since its launch in 2014, over 4 million people have visited Global Forest Watch from every single country in the world.

HOW DOES GFW CREATE CHANGE?

It's hard to manage what you can't measure. Global Forest Watch makes the best available data about forests available online for free, creating unprecedented transparency about what is happening in forests worldwide. Better information supports smarter decisions about how to manage and protect forests for current and future generations, and greater transparency helps the public hold governments and companies accountable for how their decisions impact forests. GFW data is accessed daily by governments, companies, civil society organizations, journalists, and everyday people who care about their local forests.

Impacts

lithopman

The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust used GFW's annual tree cover loss data as evidence of catastrophic recent forest loss in Menabe-Antimena reserve in Madagascar. The tree cover loss data helped convince the Ministry of Environment to increase patrols to monitor the protected area and remove the people that were illegally clearing the land.

Stefan Krasowski

Congresswoman Yap of the House of Representative of the Philipines cited Global Forest Watch data on Mangrove loss to support arguments for the National Mangrove Forests Conservation and Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits further damage or destruction of mangrove forests. The Act was passed by the House of Representatives in June, 2015.

jbdodane

Environmental Rights Action (ERA) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) Nigeria worked to empower local communities in Edo state, South-South Nigeria to advocate against land grabbing and deforestation for large-scale plantations by using GFW to map, monitor and communicate incidences of land grabbing and deforestation. The resulting campaign, a joint petition by ERA/FoE and the communities to the Edo State Government, and meetings with local government officials led to a successful revocation of about 13,750 hectares of land that had been grabbed by a plantation company.

Global Wildlife Conservation

Global Wildlife Conservation worked with the Rama and Kriol communities in Nicaragua to establish a new indigenous forest ranger program to protect the Indio-Maiz Reserve. Indigenous forest rangers use Global Forest Watch forest cover loss and fire data, which helps them to define the rangers’ patrol routes by identifying areas under the greatest immediate threat, and document illegal deforestation by navigating to alerts. The forest rangers have been successful in getting local authorities to remove illegal colonists from the reserve.

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jbdodane

Global Wildlife Conservation

History

1997

The World Resources Institute (WRI) established Global Forest Watch in 1997 as part of the Forest Frontiers Initiative. It started as a network of NGOs producing up-to-date reports about the state of forests in four pilot countries: Cameroon, Canada, Gabon, and Indonesia.