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- Satellite Monitoring of the Carpathian Old-Growth Forests: July 2025
Satellite Monitoring of the Carpathian Old-Growth Forests: July 2025
NGO «ForestCom» continues monitoring old-growth forest stands in the Ukrainian Carpathians using optical satellite imagery.
In July 2025, the monitoring covered 17,646.9 hectares of forest areas, including 1,434 sites of high conservation value.
According to national legislation, old-growth stands include primeval, quasi-primeval, and natural forest plots that have been granted conservation status. For monitoring, experts use monthly composites of the least cloudy images from the PlanetScope satellite, available in Planet Basemaps. The designated monitoring area was analyzed using a composite of 139 tiles with an average resolution of 4.77 m.
The imagery is distributed as a grid of GeoTIFF files, known as “basemap tiles.” Each tile measures 4096 × 4096 pixels. The composite was pre-processed for visual monitoring.
Fig. 1. Composite of Planet Basemaps satellite images for July 2025 covering the monitoring area of high-value forests in the Carpathians. Verified plots are marked in yellow.
Due to low cloud cover in July, 1,434 plots with a total area of 17,646.9 hectares were fully verified — 100% of the designated monitoring area. No forest cover disturbances were detected. At the same time, it should be noted that the monitoring was carried out through visual analysis within the limits of the satellite image resolution. Therefore, selective low-intensity logging may remain undetected.
The publication is produced by NGO «ForestCom» with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine – a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of NGO «ForestCom» and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden and ISAR Ednannia.
To study previous reports on satellite monitoring of old growth forests changes, please refer to:
Monitoring report of old growth forests changes in the Ukrainian Carpathians for August 2024
Monitoring report of old growth forests changes in the Ukrainian Carpathians for July 2024
Monitoring report of old growth forests changes in the Ukrainian Carpathians for June 2024
Monitoring report of old growth forests changes in the Ukrainian Carpathians for May 2024