Forest information requirements

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Abstract
Forest resources make essential contributions to the social and economic well‐being of mankind and to the protection of environmental values. Forest management is a necessary part of the proper use of these resources. The level of forest management is reflected in the requirements for information on the forest resource. Intensive management demands detailed information, while extensive management is satisfied with less precise data. Generally speaking, the requirements for forestry information are most adequately met in developed countries, while gaps of information in the developing countries, and especially in the tropics, are critical. Satellite data can make large contributions in meeting forestry information requirements in all forest regions and at all levels of management. The most significant potential contributions are in forest inventories of large areas and in the updating for forest maps. However, the use of satellite data faces serious limitations in obtaining information with the resolution required for intensive forest management and in collecting some essential data, such as statistics on tree height, timber volume, growth, regeneration and soil characteristics. The use of satellite data will be successful only if it is integrated with field sampling, aerial photography and other remote sensing techniques. To be accepted, satellite data will, therefore, have to be used within existing information gathering systems. This task is simplified by the forestry community's predisposition to multi‐stage sampling, by the importance attached to the presentation of data as maps, and by the growing acceptance of computer mapping and geographic information systems.

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