Global Forest Cover

JRC — version 2.0 (March 2025)

Description

This dataset classifies the presence or absence of forest cover for the year 2020, with global coverage at 10 m spatial resolution.

Dataset ID
9cfbe1d5
Category
Land use & land cover
Type
Raster
CRS
EPSG:4326
Spatial coverage
Global
Spatial resolution
10 m
Temporal coverage
2020
Temporal resolution
Single time point

Usage notes

This dataset is intended to support EUDR deforestation risk assessments (i.e. initial state on 31 December 2020). For EUDR forest degradation risk assessments, see JRC Global Forest Type dataset. The dataset is non mandatory, non exclusive, and non legally binding for EUDR compliance. A list of known issues is published here .

Variables

forest_cover

Typeuint8

Description

Indicates whether a pixel is forest. Data is compiled from > 29 global datasets, filtered to pixels matching the EUDR forest definition (canopy height > 5 m, no agricultural use, no other land use, no urban use, minimum mapping unit 0.5 ha), and corrected for known spatial artefacts (e.g. Landsat 7 scan lines, lava flows).

Usage notes

Reported accuracy is 91%. Dataset classifies forest (not tree) cover, so includes forest land without trees (e.g. logged areas) and excludes non-forest land with trees (e.g. urban trees). Dataset may misclassify agricultural tree crops, agroforestry, and urban forest as forest. Dataset may misclassify shifting forest cultivation and temporarily unstocked forest as non-forest. Dataset struggles to identify (non-)forest with low canopy cover and canopy height. Variable spatial resolution of input datasets can yield sharp boundaries at edges.

IndexName
0Non-forest
1Forest

Pricing

This dataset has no data acquisition cost.

Resources

Provider

JRC

joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu

The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) provides independent evidence-based knowledge and science to support EU policies. JRC forest research develops knowledge, tools, and datasets to assess forest cover, change, degradation, and emissions across the globe.