Forest Carbon Monitoring (FCM)

Forests are powerful allies against climate change. They absorb carbon, protect biodiversity, and provide countless benefits for people and the planet. But to keep forests healthy, we need to know what’s happening on the ground, and in the canopy! That’s where forest carbon monitoring comes in.

The Forest Carbon Monitoring (FCM) project, funded by the European Space Agency, combined satellite imagery with on-the-ground data to track forest biomass and carbon levels more accurately and affordably. Our tools work at multiple scales, from local demonstration areas to continental overviews. They are designed for forest owners, managers, policy makers, carbon traders, and international organizations who need reliable information to guide climate action.

The FCM project was coordinated by Jukka Miettinen from VTT. Within FCM CCN2 (the second phase of the project), the European Forest Institute (EFI) leads WP4000 (Outreach) and contributes to user interaction across the project. EFI was responsible for maintaining and updating the FCM website and blog; producing promotional materials (brochure, autoplay slide-sets, video); organizing the open user workshop (planned in the context of the Living Planet Symposium 2025). The project phase 2 was staffed with Rosa Castañeda, Gesche Schifferdecker and Jo Van Brusselen (lead of EFI’s contributions), while Yasmin Maximo was also involved in the user interaction in phase 1 of the project.

The Forest Carbon Monitoring Project was carried out under the EOEP5 programme and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA).