Satellites, constantly orbiting around our planet, see just about everything. Which means that when a tree falls in a forest, satellites know about it. Global Forest Watch’s (GFW) tree cover loss data, derived from NASA satellite imagery, can pinpoint where trees have fallen around the world. To help us understand what might have caused this […]

In late August, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced that he will move the country’s capital to another island. The current capital of Jakarta is located on Java, the most populated island in the world. President Widodo’s motivation for moving is that the city is sinking by as much as 6 inches (15 cm) per year, […]

Many of us think of forests as pristine wilderness, minimally disturbed by humans. But today’s forests are far more complex. New data available on Global Forest Watch (GFW) enables us to understand another dimension of modern forests — trees planted and managed by humans. Though far from pristine natural forests, planted trees play many critical […]

Since 2015, World Resources Institute (WRI) and Orbital Insight have worked together with a grant from the Generation Foundation to find new applications of computer vision and deep learning that will support Global Forest Watch in better monitoring the world’s forests. This blog is Part II of a series that explores our latest project working […]

Despite the increasing number of corporate commitments to zero-deforestation, tracing products back to their sources still proves an obstacle to determining whether or not companies have met their sustainability goals. Palm oil supply chains are large and complex and achieving traceability to farm level can be a time and resource-intensive undertaking. A major consumer goods manufacturer might buy from a dozen or more direct […]

Stretching 30 degrees north and south from the equator and encircling the globe, the band of tropical forests —both wet and dry — boasts more biodiversity and species endemism than almost any other place on earth. Yet these forests suffer under threat of deforestation as logging, agriculture, grazing and development take a toll on their […]

Places to Watch is an initiative that uses weekly GLAD alerts on Global Forest Watch to spot changes in forests around the globe and identify the most consequential cases of recent deforestation. By pairing deforestation alerts with expert interpretation of satellite imagery, credible descriptions of what is happening on the ground and resources to learn more, […]

By Arief Wijaya, Reidinar Juliane, Rizky Firmansyah, Tjokorda Nirarta “Koni” Samadhi and Hidayah Hamzah Tersedia dalam Bahasa Indonesia di sini. Oil palm plantation in Bogor, Indonesia. Photo by a_rabin. Deforestation in Indonesia is an old tale. People know the rate keeps increasing, but they’re not quite sure why. Some blame the oil palm and pulp and paper plantations, but not everyone […]

In the previous MAAP #25 and MAAP #26, we illustrated deforestation hotspots in the Peruvian Amazon for the periods 2012-2014 and 2015*, respectively. Here in MAAP #32, we present a complementary analysis based on the size of deforestation events. Graph 32a shows the comparative results of deforestation patterns between 2013 and 2015, indicating that: Small-scale (< 5 hectares) accounted for the vast majority of […]