Use Case Description
Successful forest management, the protection of forest ecosystems, and the research to improve our understanding of their biodiversity and functioning, requires detailed knowledge of the current state of the forest and its changes. Recording the current state of the forest is the main goal of forest structure monitoring. Forest inventories are central elements of forest monitoring, carried out on national, regional or enterprise and project level to assess the standing forest stocks and changes in these stocks. This is not only relevant for sustainable forest management, but also contributes to national greenhouse gas emissions assessments.
Traditional field-based approaches to forest inventories are resource-intensive, time-consuming, and very limited in geographic coverage, particularly in remote or inaccessible regions. Without accurate and up-to-date forest inventory data, it is difficult to monitor forest characteristics, detect changes, make informed decisions for forest management, and design effective conservation strategies. Earth Observation (EO)-based forest inventories support the efficient dissemination of inventory results to stakeholders, decision-makers, and the public, promoting transparency and highlighting the advantages of forest data in policy and planning.
