Articles | Volume 18, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1331-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1331-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
GFC2020: a global map of forest land use for year 2020 to support the EU Deforestation Regulation
Clément Bourgoin
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, 21027, Italy
Astrid Verhegghen
ARHS Developments Italia S.R.L, Milan, 20121, Italy
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, 00100, Italy
Silvia Carboni
European Dynamics Luxembourg S.A., Milan, 20121, Italy
Iban Ameztoy
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, 21027, Italy
Lucas Degreve
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, 21027, Italy
Steffen Fritz
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Martin Herold
Helmholtz Center Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Telegrafenberg, Potsdam, 14473, Germany
Wageningen University & Research, Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands
Nandika Tsendbazar
Wageningen University & Research, Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands
Myroslava Lesiv
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Frédéric Achard
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, 21027, Italy
René Colditz
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, 21027, Italy
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Cited
9 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Forest structure and fragmentation dynamics in cacao-producing landscapes of Amazonas, Peru, revealed by multi-temporal land-use change and spaceborne LiDAR A. Cotrina-Sanchez et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-026-02506-0
- Intact peatlands experience smaller fire impact on tree cover than modified peatlands and non-peatlands in Indonesia E. Diatmiko et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2026.1840645
- Global forest typology at 10-meter resolution for forest and land-use monitoring M. Neumann et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-08299-5
- Decorrelating carbon and water fluxes in the Amazon Basin S. Worden et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75526-3
- GEDIMetrics: a QGIS plugin for accessing and integrating multi-product GEDI spaceborne LiDAR data A. Cotrina-Sanchez et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-026-02254-z
- Nearly ninety percent of Indonesian coffee area is classified as deforestation-free under the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) T. Satriawan et al. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1e2
- Carbon dioxide removals by tropical moist forests offset most land-use emissions across 18 Afrotropical countries W. Verbiest et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03710-w
- Global Forest Attribute Dataset (GFAD): high-resolution spatial layers and statistics for monitoring forest morphology, connectivity, and accounting G. Caudullo & P. Vogt https://doi.org/10.1186/s13595-026-01332-y
- Using Contemporary Global Land Cover Products to Improve Forest Mapping at the National Scale: Case Study of Poland M. Shahbandeh et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18132215
9 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Forest structure and fragmentation dynamics in cacao-producing landscapes of Amazonas, Peru, revealed by multi-temporal land-use change and spaceborne LiDAR A. Cotrina-Sanchez et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-026-02506-0
- Intact peatlands experience smaller fire impact on tree cover than modified peatlands and non-peatlands in Indonesia E. Diatmiko et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2026.1840645
- Global forest typology at 10-meter resolution for forest and land-use monitoring M. Neumann et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-08299-5
- Decorrelating carbon and water fluxes in the Amazon Basin S. Worden et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75526-3
- GEDIMetrics: a QGIS plugin for accessing and integrating multi-product GEDI spaceborne LiDAR data A. Cotrina-Sanchez et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-026-02254-z
- Nearly ninety percent of Indonesian coffee area is classified as deforestation-free under the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) T. Satriawan et al. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1e2
- Carbon dioxide removals by tropical moist forests offset most land-use emissions across 18 Afrotropical countries W. Verbiest et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03710-w
- Global Forest Attribute Dataset (GFAD): high-resolution spatial layers and statistics for monitoring forest morphology, connectivity, and accounting G. Caudullo & P. Vogt https://doi.org/10.1186/s13595-026-01332-y
- Using Contemporary Global Land Cover Products to Improve Forest Mapping at the National Scale: Case Study of Poland M. Shahbandeh et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18132215
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 06 Nov 2026
Short summary
In the context of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), forest maps can support operators in the assessment of the risk of deforestation after year 2020. Here we present the Global Forest Cover map of year 2020, derived from the combination of most recent publicly available land cover and land use datasets. The map is a globally-consistent representation of the presence/absence of forests based on EUDR definitions, but its use is not mandatory, not exclusive and not legally binding.
In the context of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), forest maps can support operators in...
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