Introduction
Forest ecosystems offer critical ecosystem services, such as providing food and materials, protecting watersheds, and regulating local climate. Scientists note that forests nurture essential biodiversity that underpins many ecosystem functions. However, forests are increasingly threatened by human activities. The international community has proposed various global initiatives to monitor, manage and conserve forest ecosystems. During the past decade, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been helping countries to develop National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMS). The NFMS depends on the National Forest Inventories (NFIs), which provide various forest resource information.
National forestry agencies use NFI programs to develop sustainable policies and management strategies. The national forestry agencies are mandated to produce timely and accurate estimates on forests through the NFI programs. The aim is to periodically report the current state of forests and changes in forests for monitoring and accounting purposes. National forestry agencies provide quantitative statistical information on the area, species composition, volume, and growing stock for FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessments reports. However, national forestry agencies in most low-income countries face challenges in producing and updating national forest resource information, given the high cost of conducting field-based national inventories and creating maps.