Methodology for generating a global forest management layer

The first ever global map of forest management was generated based on remote sensing data. To collect training data, we launched a series of Geo-Wiki (https://www.geo-wiki.org/) campaigns involving forest experts from different world regions, to explore which information related to forest management could be collected by visual interpretation of very high-resolution images from Google Maps and Microsoft Bing, Sentinel time series and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) profiles derived from Google Earth Engine. A machine learning technique was then used with the visually interpreted sample (280K locations) as a training dataset to classify PROBA-V satellite imagery. Finally, we obtained a global wall-to-wall map of forest management at a 100m resolution for the year 2015. The map includes classes such as intact forests; forests with signs of management, including logging; planted forests; woody plantations with a rotation period up to 15 years; oil palm plantations; and agroforestry. The map can be used to deliver further information about forest ecosystems, protected and observed forest status changes, biodiversity assessments, and other ecosystem-related aspects

Global forest management data for 2015 at a 100 m resolution

Spatially explicit information on forest management at a global scale is critical for understanding the status of forests, for planning sustainable forest management and restoration, and conservation activities. Here, we produce the first reference data set and a prototype of a globally consistent forest management map with high spatial detail on the most prevalent forest management classes such as intact forests, managed forests with natural regeneration, planted forests, plantation forest (rotation up to 15 years), oil palm plantations, and agroforestry. We developed the reference dataset of 226 K unique locations through a series of expert and crowdsourcing campaigns using Geo-Wiki (https://www.geo-wiki.org/). We then combined the reference samples with time series from PROBA-V satellite imagery to create a global wall-to-wall map of forest management at a 100 m resolution for the year 2015, with forest management class accuracies ranging from 58% to 80%. The reference data set and the map present the status of forest ecosystems and can be used for investigating the value of forests for species, ecosystems and their services

Global forest management data at a 100m resolution for the year 2015

We provide four data records: 1.The reference data set as a comma-separated file ("reference_data_set.csv") with the following attributes: “ID” is a unique location identifier “Latitude, Longitude” are centroid coordinates of a 100m x 100m pixel. “Land_use_ID “is a land use class: 11 - Naturally regenerating forest without any signs of human activities, e.g., primary forests. 20 - Naturally regenerating forest with signs of human activities, e.g., logging, clear cuts etc. 31 - Planted forest. 32 - Short rotation plantations for timber. 40 - Oil palm plantations. 53 - Agroforestry. “Flag” identifies a data origin: 1- the crowdsourced locations, 2- the control data set, 0 – the additional experts' classifications following the opportunistic approach. 2. The 100 m forest management map in a geoTiff format with the classes presented - "FML_v3.2.tif ". 3. The predicted class probability from the Random Forest classification in a geoTiff format - "ProbaV_LC100_epoch2015_global_v2.0.3_forest-management--layer-proba_EPSG-4326.tif" 4. Validation data set as a comma-separated file ("validation_data_set.csv) with the following attributes: “ID” is a unique location identifier “pixel_center_x” , “pixel_center_y ” are centroid coordinates of a 100m x 100m pixel in lat/lon projection “first_landuse_class “is a land use class, as in (1). “second_landuse_class “is a second possible land use class, as in (1), identified in case it was difficult to assign one class with high confidence