Jakarta—The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a groundbreaking initiative to bolster the collection and use of forest data across Asia and the Pacific, the UN organisation said in a release on Thursday, March 27. Unveiled this week at a regional workshop in Bangkok, the National Forest Inventory (NFI) Learning Journey offers a flexible, self-paced course designed to help countries strengthen their forest monitoring systems.
With forests in Asia and the Pacific covering over 740 million hectares—nearly 18 percent of the world’s total forest cover—reliable data has become more critical than ever in the face of climate change and mounting pressure on natural resources. More than 450 million people in the region depend on forests for their livelihoods, while the annual trade in primary forest products exceeds USD 90 billion.
“Forests are the lungs of our planet,” said Robert Simpson, Deputy Regional Representative at FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. “Accurate, accessible, and transparent forest data tailored to national frameworks, allow countries to monitor ecosystems, track progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and nationally determined contributions (NDCs), which is why National Forest Inventories (NFIs) are so important for collecting and analysing this data for decision-making”.
National Forest Inventories (NFIs) are essential tools for collecting field-based data on forest conditions, including species diversity, biomass, and soil health — insights that satellites and remote sensing alone cannot provide. FAO emphasised that while technological advances such as artificial intelligence have enhanced forest monitoring, NFIs remain the gold standard for producing detailed, ground-truthed information.
“Reliable forest data empowers countries to take informed action,” said Julian Fox, FAO Senior Forestry Officer. “By building technical skills through the NFI Learning Journey, we’re helping countries safeguard their forests and build climate resilience.”
The new learning journey is open to forestry professionals, government officials, researchers, and others involved in forest monitoring. The course covers the full spectrum of NFI processes in English, Spanish, and French — from planning and data collection to analysis and reporting. Learners who complete the course receive digital badges as proof of their expertise.
FAO’s initiative is part of a broader push to enhance national forest monitoring systems (NFMSs), which support forest restoration, conservation, and reporting to the FAO and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The NFI Learning Journey is supported by the Global Environment Facility’s CBIT-Forest project and the United Kingdom’s AIM4Forests Initiative. Regional partners such as the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) also participated in the launch event, which gathered forestry leaders and experts from 12 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam.
The initiative aligns with the FAO’s Forestry Roadmap: From Vision to Action, 2024–2031, which underscores forests’ dual role in conservation and productivity and advocates for science-driven strategies to scale up sustainable solutions.
As countries strive to meet their environmental and climate goals, FAO calls on all stakeholders — from governments and forestry agencies to academic and research institutions — to engage with the NFI Learning Journey and invest in the future of forest data.
The FAO said that strengthening NFIs at the regional level ensures the consistency and accuracy of forest data, paving the way for better-informed policies and stronger action on climate and biodiversity. (nsh)
Banner photo: NFI’s botany team takes measurements of various tree species near Kupiano, Papua New Guinea. ©️Cory Wright/UN-REDD Programme
