EO·Atlas
FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment
Quinquennial FAO-led methodology and reporting framework consolidating official national statistics on forest area, growing stock, biomass, ownership, management, disturbance, and related variables across 194 countries and areas. FRA defines standardised national reporting tables, forest and deforestation definitions, and the FRA Remote Sensing Survey methodology using the Landsat archive via Google Earth Engine and Collect Earth Online for sampling-based area estimation. First conducted in 1948 and quinquennial since FRA 1990, it is the canonical global authority on forest statistics against which all satellite-derived forest area products are benchmarked.
The FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) is a quinquennial methodology and reporting framework consolidating official national statistics on forest area, growing stock, biomass, ownership, management, disturbance, and related variables across 194 countries and areas.[1] FRA defines standardised national reporting tables and harmonised forest and deforestation definitions that ensure cross-country comparability.[2] The most recent cycle is FRA 2025.[3] The FRA Remote Sensing Survey methodology employs the Landsat archive via Google Earth Engine and Collect Earth Online for probability-based area estimation, providing an independent satellite-derived complement to country-reported statistics.[4] First conducted in 1948 and quinquennial since FRA 1990, the framework serves as the global benchmark against which satellite-derived forest area and deforestation products are evaluated.[1]
- [1]Global Forest Resources Assessment homepageagency doc2026-05-25
- [2]Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025agency doc2026-05-25
- [3]FRA 2025 Guidelines and specificationsagency doc2026-05-25
- [4]FRA 2025 Terms and definitionsagency doc2026-05-25