Last updated on February 23, 2014
Global Forest Watch is an online educational resource for monitor the deforestation of the planet in real time.
This site will allow you to watch and Track the ravages of deforestation around the world on a map, Google Earth way. A spectacular CTBT tool to understand and make understand the ravages of deforestation on the planet.
Global Forest Watch combines the Google Earth engine, satellite images and a range of open data sources to visualise deforestation-related information. The result is impressive and in particular through its monthly updates that make it possible to follow the ecological phenomenon almost in real time.
You will be able to follow the evolution of deforestation with all the public data available from the year 2000 until last month. You will be able to zoom in on a geographical area to get even more precise details. You can even surround with lines an area that interests you more particularly. Immediately, Global Forest Watch will give you a lot of details, including how many trees have been lost or replanted. A chronological frieze under the map allows you to see the area on different dates. You can even launch a short animation that will show you the evolution of deforestation since the year 2000.
The site provides a truly impressive amount of information. You will be able to find very specific and specialized information such as more generic and affordable information for a school audience. For example, you will find an entry for the latter in this gigantic database by country. Take the test for France for example. You will learn that our country has just over 16 million hectares of forest cover, but loses around 70 000 hectares a year.
An interesting educational resource to discover. Global Forest Watch is a free site. It is the result of a partnership between Google, the University of Maryland and a range of environmental organisations.
Link: Global Forest Watch
English