GFC2020: a global map of forest land use for year 2020 to support the EU Deforestation Regulation

Bourgoin, C., Verhegghen, A., Carboni, S., Ameztoy, I., Degreve, L., Fritz, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0420-8549, Herold, M., Tsendbazar, N., Lesiv, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9846-3342, Achard, F., & Colditz, R. (2026). GFC2020: a global map of forest land use for year 2020 to support the EU Deforestation Regulation. Earth System Science Data 18 (2) 1331-1365. 10.5194/essd-18-1331-2026.

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Abstract

Remote sensing-based observations are used to map tree cover extent, estimate canopy height, detect disturbances, and classify land cover and land use. However, comprehensive global information on forest cover, capturing both physical characteristics and land use components as defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), remains limited. Here, we present a harmonized and globally consistent map of forest presence or absence at 10 m spatial resolution for the year 2020, hereafter referred to as GFC2020. Our approach combines multiple spatial datasets, primarily derived from Earth observation (EO), to harness their complementary strengths within a transparent, flexible, and open science framework. GFC2020 maps 4562 million hectares (Mha) of forests globally, which is 9.5 % more than the estimate from latest FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) for 2020. GFC2020 forest area does not include 578 Mha of tree cover (11 % of the global tree cover area) because these areas do not meet the height threshold or occur on agricultural or urban land. Conversely, around 0.6 % (∼ 25 Mha) of the area classified as forest in GFC2020 is unstocked, due to forest management practices or natural disturbances such as fire. Based on the reinterpretation of a previously collected reference set of 21 752 sample units, GFC2020 achieves an overall accuracy of 91 %, with a commission error of 18 % and an omission error of 8 % for forest. Improvements in EO products, such as better detection of trees in dry and open landscapes, distinguishing natural from human drivers of forest disturbance, mapping tree crops at high spatial resolution or identifying agroforestry systems, will contribute to enhancing future versions of GFC2020. The shift from tree cover to forest cover mapping is not only essential for ecological and climate-related applications but also provides new opportunities to support policy needs. GFC2020 is one of many tools to inform the deforestation risk assessments under supply chain oriented regulations such as the European Union's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Even though this map follows the EUDR's definition of forest, it is a non-exclusive, non-mandatory, and not legally binding source. The data availability is as follows: GFC2020 (Bourgoin et al., 2024a, http://data.europa.eu/89h/e554d6fb-6340-45d5-9309-332337e5bc26) and the validation dataset (Colditz et al., 2025a, http://data.europa.eu/89h/8fbace34-a2fe-47b9-ad82-3e9226b7a9a6).

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