Global Forest Watch

What Global Forest Watch does

Global Forest Watch (GFW) is a free, open-access forest monitoring platform launched in 2014 as a program of the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global nonprofit research organization headquartered at 10 G Street NE Suite 800, Washington, D.C. The platform aggregates satellite imagery, geospatial datasets, and near-real-time deforestation and fire alerts to provide governments, NGOs, journalists, researchers, and companies with transparent information on forest change worldwide. Its user base spans conservation (Mongabay, Amazon Conservation Association, Minam Peru), government (Liberia Forest Development Authority), and corporate supply-chain functions, with Mars the only publicly named enterprise customer.

GFW's technical stack centers on proprietary alert systems developed with research partners: GLAD (Global Land Analysis and Discovery) with the University of Maryland for Landsat-based forest change detection, RADD (RAdar for Detecting Deforestation) for radar-based all-weather alerts, and the PALM risk model for plantation-driven deforestation. The platform integrates more than 65 datasets covering forest cover, primary forest extent, biodiversity, carbon storage, and commodity-driven deforestation risk. A GFW Pro paid tier adds subscription-based monitoring, API access, and tailored support for corporate supply-chain compliance, including EUDR readiness.

The business model combines a free public platform funded by philanthropic grants and government donors with a paid GFW Pro enterprise tier. The platform is rebranding to Global Nature Watch in July 2026, expanding scope beyond forests into broader ecosystem monitoring, accompanied by Global Nature Watch Horizon, an AI-driven successor platform currently in preview. Data partnerships with satellite providers (Airbus, AgroSatelite, Astrodigital) and a development finance partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) extend the platform's reach and dataset portfolio.

Name

Global Forest Watch

Legal name

World Resources Institute

Website

https://globalforestwatch.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Global Forest Watch is a free, open-access forest monitoring platform launched in 2014 as a program of the World Resources Institute, providing near-real-time deforestation alerts, satellite imagery, and 65+ integrated datasets to governments, NGOs, journalists, and corporate sustainability teams worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Forest Monitoring Software

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (11531), Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Support Activities for Forestry (115310)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Forest Inventory, Mapping & Monitoring (GIS/Remote Sensing/MRV) (IMAMAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote Sensing & Geospatial MRV (Satellite, Aerial, LiDAR, SAR) (EUABACAF), Supply Chain (Scope 3) Emissions & Supplier Engagement Platforms (EUABAEAE), Carbon Accounting, Verification & Registry Services (MRV, Audits, Certification) (IMAMAJAE), Monitoring, Survival Surveys & Carbon/MRV Services (Remote Sensing, Field Audits) (AFAMACAO)

Keywords

• Forest monitoring
• Deforestation alerts
• Satellite imagery
• Land use analytics
• Commodity compliance

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Free Platform Access: Core GFW platform providing free access to forest monitoring data, alerts, and tools for the general public, researchers, NGOs, and governments worldwide.
2. GFW Pro Subscription: Paid enterprise-tier product for assessing deforestation risk in commodity supply chains and ensuring compliance with regulations like the EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation).
3. Donations and Grants: Funding from institutional donors, foundations, and government agencies that support the non-profit mission of providing open-access environmental monitoring data.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Global Forest Watch operates a free, open-access online platform that provides near-real-time forest monitoring data, satellite-derived deforestation alerts, interactive maps, and country dashboards built on more than 65 global and local datasets. The platform serves conservation organizations, governments, journalists, and companies, and extends to a paid enterprise product (GFW Pro) for commodity supply chain risk assessment and EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) compliance. A companion mobile application (Forest Watcher) enables offline monitoring and field data collection.

Product overview

Global Forest Watch (becoming Global Nature Watch) operates as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core platform provides forest monitoring, land use data, and deforestation alerts across over 65 global and local data sets. GFW Pro extends the platform for enterprise users to assess deforestation risk in commodity supply chains and ensure EUDR compliance. Forest Watcher is a mobile companion app enabling offline monitoring and field data collection. Global Nature Watch Horizon represents the AI-driven next generation platform. The Global Forest Review provides research and analysis on forest trends.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GFW Pro: Tool for assessing deforestation risk in commodity supply chains and ensuring compliance with regulations like EUDR.
• Forest Watcher
• Global Nature Watch Horizon

Products and services

• Global Forest Watch (Global Nature Watch) Platform Free, open-access web-based forest monitoring platform providing interactive maps, country and global dashboards, weekly GLAD deforestation alerts, RADD radar alerts, and access to over 65 global and local datasets covering conservation, land use, forest communities, biodiversity, climate, commodities, water, and fires. Used by conservation organizations, policymakers, journalists, researchers, and the public to monitor and analyze forest change worldwide.
• GFW Pro Paid enterprise subscription product for assessing deforestation risk in commodity supply chains and ensuring robust reporting and compliance with regulations such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Includes tools such as the PALM Risk Tool for evaluating palm oil supplier deforestation risk and supply chain compliance.
• Forest Watcher Mobile application for iOS and Android that enables users to access Global Forest Watch's forest monitoring and alert system offline and to collect field data directly from a mobile device, including team management features.

Quantifiable outcome

• Government authorities taking action within 24-48 hours of receiving deforestation alerts
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AFD (French Development Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor development partner supporting Global Forest Watch as part of the World Resources Institute's network spanning more than 50 countries. AFD provides funding and programmatic support for environmental monitoring initiatives.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Sylvera: Carbon-credit ratings and forest monitoring provider using satellite data to assess carbon project performance. Comparable in applying remote sensing to forest/land-use outcomes and intersecting with supply-chain sustainability buyers.
• Pachama: Forest carbon project marketplace using satellite-based monitoring to verify nature-based carbon projects. Comparable as an emerging player combining satellite forest monitoring with corporate sustainability demand.
• Upstream Tech: Provides satellite-based environmental monitoring tools for forestry, conservation, and supply-chain use cases. Comparable as a niche provider offering applied remote-sensing monitoring products.

Direct peers

• Planet Labs: Commercial satellite operator providing daily high-resolution imagery used for deforestation and land-use monitoring. Directly comparable in offering satellite-derived monitoring data to conservation and commodity-supply-chain customers.
• Satelligence: Forest and commodity supply-chain deforestation monitoring company serving palm oil, soy, cocoa, and other supply chains. Direct competitor to GFW Pro for EUDR-style supply-chain risk analytics.
• Descartes Labs: Geospatial analytics platform that fuses satellite imagery with AI/ML for agriculture, commodity, and environmental monitoring. Highly comparable in applying satellite analytics to deforestation and supply-chain risk.

Broad incumbents

• Google Earth Engine: Cloud-based geospatial processing platform with a vast catalog of satellite datasets. Comparable as an enabling infrastructure layer that researchers and conservation teams use alongside or instead of GFW.
• Maxar Technologies: Major commercial satellite imagery and geospatial analytics provider serving government and enterprise customers. Comparable as a broader incumbent in satellite-based Earth intelligence that supports forest and land monitoring use cases.
• ESRI: Dominant GIS platform (ArcGIS) widely used in forestry, conservation, and government land management. Comparable as the incumbent GIS backbone that GFW competes against for institutional workflows.

Others

• Mapbox: Mapping and location platform providing the underlying mapping infrastructure that powers many geospatial applications. Comparable as an enabling layer that GFW's interactive maps and dashboards depend on conceptually for visualization tooling.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/globalforests
• Facebookfacebook.com/globalforests

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Global Forest Watch