The definition of forest is based on nationally appropriate criteria chosen in line with the Marrakesh Accords (UNFCCC, 2001) and is described as followed: “Land covered primarily by trees, but also often containing shrubs, palms, bamboo, herbs, grass and climbers, with a minimum tree crown cover of 30% (or equivalent stocking level), with the potential to reach a minimum canopy height at maturity in situ of 5 meters, and a minimum area of 1.0 ha”. On the other hand forest cover is a percentage of land within a specific area covered by forests.

These forest cover figures, are based on wall-to-wall maps, where for the period 2000-2017 Landsat images are used and for the periods after 2017 Sentinel 2 images are used. For the period 2000-2021, the maps underwent a Quality Assessment| Quality Control procedure with an average overall accuracy of 90% and an average uncertainty of 10%. After this period, the method was changed to a systematic sampling approach, where new figures are obtained for the monitoring period.

Note. Wall-to-wall maps are still being produced for national planning purposes.