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Sustainable Forest Management

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Satellite Expertise for Sustainable Forest Management

Deforestation is a global concern with severe consequences including biodiversity loss, climate change, soil erosion, desertification, flooding, and increased zoonotic diseases. According to the FAO, around 420 million hectares of forest have been lost since 1990.

Satellite technologies enable the measurement of essential parameters for sustainable forest management such as tree height, density, distribution, and surface area. These insights are vital for evaluating the state of global vegetation cover.

With over 30 years of collaboration with forest managers, CLS experts locate, monitor, and assess forest cover dynamics at multiple scales, supporting sustainable forestry policies.

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200+ projects led by CLS’s Earth & Water division specialists over the past 4 years

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In more than 100 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania
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420 000 million hectares of forest lost since 1990

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35% of global mangroves lost over the past 50 years due to urbanization, agriculture, and aquaculture

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Forest Assessment and Dynamics

With over 30 years of remote sensing expertise, CLS offers advanced services for forest evaluation and monitoring.

These services enable forest managers to precisely track and assess forest conditions at various scales, supporting sustainable management strategies.

Our services include:

  • Forest cover mapping and area estimation
  • Forest loss (clear-cutting, selective logging) and gain (natural regeneration, plantations)
  • Forest canopy density and evolution
  • Forest composition (broadleaf, coniferous)
  • Identification of small wooded plots
  • Trees outside forests
  • Forest degradation and deforestation
  • Afforestation and reforestation
  • Historical and near real-time (NRT) alert system for canopy disturbances based on time series analysis
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Forest Disturbances

The combination of our integrated technologies and our team’s know-how enables us to deliver solutions for:

  • Forest health monitoring
  • Monitoring and alerting on forest decline linked to climate change (severe drought, insect outbreaks)
  • Emergency mapping and damage assessment caused by windthrow, wildfires, and landslides
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Multi-Scale Forestry Expertise: Accurate Data for Every Use Case

CLS has developed a suite of key products for forest managers, available in multiple formats:

  • 3D Canopy Height Model (CHM)
  • Carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
  • Biomass estimation
  • Old-growth and primary forests
  • Ecological corridors, protected areas, natural habitats, and biodiversity
  • Urban trees, parks, and gardens
  • Urban cooling islands
  • Agricultural trees (orchards, vineyards)
  • Mangroves
  • Phenological studies
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Mangrove Detection and Monitoring: Mapping to Protect

Mangroves are vital for coastal protection, carbon storage, and biodiversity but are disappearing at an alarming rate.

With over 30 years of expertise in satellite imaging and data processing, we map these ecosystems, track their evolution, and identify threats to better protect them and support conservation strategies.

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Featured Projects

  • Copernicus Land Monitoring Services High Resolution Layers Forest & Small Woody Features
  • ECOLASS: Evolution of Copernicus Land Services based on Sentinel data
  • GMES FM: Global Monitoring for Environment and Security – Forest Monitoring
  • REDD, REDDAF, REDD+: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
  • Earth Observation for Sustainable Development (EO4SD)
  • EOMonDIS: Earth Observation services for monitoring dynamic forest disturbances
  • OSFACO: Satellite observation of tropical forests
  • GEOFORAFRI: Capacity building and access to satellite data for forest monitoring in Central and West Africa
  • AI4GEO: Artificial intelligence for 2D and 3D geospatial data
  • EOCLINIC...
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Got a question or a project in mind? Our experts are here to help you find custom solutions tailored to your specific needs.

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Our Other Activities for Environment and Climate

Smart Agriculture

Sustainable Water Resource Management

Land Management, Air Quality & Combating Land Artificialization