The ESA Global Development Assistance (GDA) Forest Management activity is supporting the World Bank in the Mexico Strengthening Entrepreneurship in Productive Forest Landscapes Project. This collaboration focuses on enhancing the country’s national forest monitoring system through the integration of satellite Earth Observation (EO) data. By providing more accurate, consistent, and up-to-date information on forest resources, the initiative supports better planning, policy-making, and reporting, including commitments under climate finance mechanisms.
This story highlights the latest developments of the collaboration. The first development cycle has delivered baseline EO products for forest assessment and planning, and the team is now refining analyses based on the World Bank and national stakeholder feedback. By improving the data basis and delivering high-resolution land cover information, ESA GDA’s EO services are helping Mexico build a more robust and sustainable forest monitoring system.
Mexico’s forests are central to climate, biodiversity, and livelihoods
Mexico hosts diverse forest ecosystems that are vital for biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, and rural livelihoods. From temperate pine-oak forests to tropical rainforests, these ecosystems provide timber and non-timber products, regulate water cycles, and help mitigate climate change. Yet, like many countries, Mexico faces challenges in collecting reliable and consistent data on forest condition and change.
Using EO to strengthen forest inventory design and monitoring
To address these challenges, the ESA GDA Forest Management consortium is working with the World Bank and counterparts in La Comisión Nacional Forestal (CONAFOR) Mexico to integrate EO into forest monitoring processes. This work began with collaboratively defined scope and product specifications sessions to ensure that EO products are tailored to operational needs. The first iteration of products includes:
- Land cover mapping: Using Sentinel-2 optical imagery combined with local secondary data, the consortium has produced high-resolution maps showing the distribution of land cover types for 2018 as the baseline year of the national GHG inventory across the area of interest in the state of Durango.
- Tree cover density (TCD) mapping: The TCD product is directly derived from high-resolution (HR) satellite data and provides a proportional estimate of canopy cover per pixel, expressed as a percentage from 0 to 100 %. Produced at 10 m resolution using Sentinel-2 imagery, this product is a precursor for generating forest maps that apply specific forest definitions. By adjusting thresholds, TCD can be converted into “tree/no-tree” layers to support forest monitoring and reporting. The year 2020 was chosen as it is the reference year for the new European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Figure 2: Tree Cover Map in Mexico – Figure 3: Tree Cover Density Map in Mexico
The outputs are being delivered in formats that allow detailed exploration and validation, allowing CONAFOR and World Bank teams to explore layers.
Ensuring uptake
A key focus of the activity is ensuring that EO-derived products are usable and sustainable in the long term. Building on lessons from ESA’s earlier EO4SD Forest Management programme, the activity aims to support national teams in interpreting, validating, and integrating EO data into their workflows. Emphasis is placed on the transparency of methods so that national experts can replicate analyses and adapt them to evolving needs.
The work in Mexico demonstrates the high potential of EO to complement and enhance national forest monitoring. It offers a pathway to more cost-effective, comprehensive, and timely forest monitoring, supporting sustainable management, improved climate reporting, and better-informed policy.
In the coming months, the consortium will refine the products and finalise recommendations for operational adoption.
The provided EO-products will enable Mexico’s BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) Emissions Reduction Program to have access to new methods for improved forest monitoring. This will serve as a basis for providing accurate data on emission reporting within the area of interest, and strengthening sustainable forest management. By embedding these EO capabilities into national systems, Mexico can continue to lead in evidence-based forest management while meeting its domestic and international commitments.
