Forest Watcher is a free mobile and web app for the frontlines of forest protection that makes Global Forest Watch’s satellite-derived alert datasets available to users offline. Across over 130 countries, community forest monitors, park rangers, protected area managers, smallholder farmers and others protecting global forests use Forest Watcher to locate, document, and expose illegal or unwanted deforestation regardless of internet connectivity. Key features include downloading forest change alerts, collecting data in the field, integrating additional data, managing teams and sharing reports. The tool is now more user-friendly than ever! Forest Watcher recently introduced several exciting new features and updates that make managing teams, sharing data and reporting field investigations more convenient. During the webinar, we will provide a demo on Forest Watcher’s latest features and walk you through the workflow of how to use the Forest Watcher app and web for field investigations with deforestation and fire alerts from Global Forest Watch. You will also hear from Forest Watcher users on how they’ve used the tool for forest monitoring, including best practices and lessons learned. All registrants will receive a copy of the webinar recording even if they cannot join live. This webinar will be hosted in English with simultaneous translation to Spanish, Portuguese, French and Bahasa Indonesia. More info: https://www.wri.org/events/2023/5/new-forest-watcher-features-field-investigations-and-team-coordination

2. Webinar Instructions
• Select the language that you would like to hear this webinar with the
globe icon.
• This webinar is in English with simultaneous interpretation to Spanish,
French, Portuguese and Bahasa Indonesia.
• Enter questions or comments through the “Q&A” button. We will
have a Q&A at the end of the webinar.

3. SPEAKERS
Colin Stief
Senior Product
Manager
Global Forest Watch
Gabrielle Nussbaum
Senior Manager
Sustainable Landscapes
& Nature-Based
Solutions
Isabela Barriga
Engagement Specialist
Global Forest Watch
MODERATOR
Tatiana Bogdanova
Product Specialist
Global Forest Watch
Lukmanul Hakim
GIS Manager
HAkA Foundation
Jorge Fachin
GIS Manager
AMPA

4. GLOBAL FOREST WATCH
• GFW offers a suite of forest
monitoring tools designed to:
• Increase knowledge and
transparency about forest
landscapes
• Advance private sector action
to stop commodity-driven
deforestation and manage
forests sustainably
• Harness information to
mobilize local action by
governments and civil society

5. AGENDA
• Overview of Forest
Watcher (FW)
• Demo: How to Use
FW
• User Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: World Resources Institute

6. MOBILE SOLUTION FOR LOW CONNECTIVITY
Photo: Axel Fassio/CIFOR

7. INTENDED FOR MANY USERS…
• Field project managers
• Forest managers
• Forest rangers and law
enforcement officials
• Local communities and
indigenous peoples
• Conservation NGOs
• Researchers
Photo: Jane Goodall Institute

8. Photos by Jordi Ruiz and Jane Goodall Institute

9. FOREST WATCHER
IS…
• Open source
• Free to use
• Mobile & web-based
• Available on Android and
Apple
• Available in English,
French, Portuguese,
Spanish, Bahasa
Indonesian, Malagasy
and Dutch
Photo: World Resources Institute

10. Forest Watcher user feedback collection informs new
feature development
• User feedback collected on an ongoing basis and catalogued
• Surveys and interviews conducted when necessary
• Updates to Forest Watcher as new relevant data becomes available
• Consultations ongoing as new features are being developed

11. New features to make field investigations easier
than ever
• Manage multiple teams
• Set assignments
• Record data in multiple ways
• Export and share data
• Major bug fixes
• And more!
Photo: World Resources Institute

12. Poll!
Photo: World Resources Institute

13. AGENDA
• Overview of Forest
Watcher (FW)
• Demo: How to Use
FW
• User Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: World Resources Institute

15. AGENDA
• Overview of Forest
Watcher (FW)
• Demo: How to Use
FW
• User Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: World Resources Institute

16. Asociación Amazónicos por la
Amazonía (AMPA)
Photo: AMPA

17. How we have used Forest Watcher:
Asociacion Amazonicos por la Amazonia
Association (AMPA)
https://ampaperu.info/
• Train and build skills of local monitors and
competent authorities.
• Navigate, collect and verify tree cover loss in
conservation initiatives.
• Generate reports to share information to the
competent authorities to take joint actions.
• Used by ARA in workshops to accredit forest
custodians.
Presented by Jorge Fachin
May 25, 2023

18. Best practices and lessons learned.
How the new FW updates will impact
our work.
New updates, new challenges!
• Incorporate these new features
into the communal control and
surveillance systems.
• Improvements with planning
to monitor and verify
deforestation alerts.
• Consolidate monitoring
networks, identify new leaders
to monitor and verify
deforestation alerts.
Technology reconnects with youth!
• Collaborative and articulated
work between local
communities - civil society and
competent authorities.
• Design and develop didactic and
friendly materials to build
capacities.
• Technology is just a tool! First, a
strategy must be developed
that includes the use of tools.

19. Thanks!

20. AGENDA
• Overview of Forest
Watcher (FW)
• Demo: How to Use
FW
• User Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: World Resources Institute

21. HAkA's Stories
of Forest Watcher

22. 2017 ACTIVITIES
• HAkA is one of the institutions that
ran the beta testing of Forest
Watcher.
• Introduced and practiced it with the
internal team and Leuser
Conservation Forum (FKL).

23. • Disseminated Forest Watcher and GFW to
many parties (FMUs, National Park,
Governments, Police, Law Enforcer, NGOs,
Journalists, and Local Communities).
• Participants discovered that there are
applications that have data deforestation
alerts similar to fire alerts that can appear on
a smartphone.
2018-2022

24. We love this tool. Aside from being able to guide us to a
deforestation area deep in the forest, we also don't
worry about getting lost. We can returnto the starting
point by following the track.
"
ACEH POLICE
"

25. CHALLENGES
Smartphone-based jobs are not very
popular yet. Capacity and feature
limitations on personal smartphones.
Willingness and initiative to utilize
the latest technology is still low.
Help provide smartphones that
can be used for Forest Watcher.
Conduct continuous training and
assistance supported by the Small
Grants Fund.

26. • Forest Watcher is a very powerful
tool. It's even equipped with a
reporting system.
• We also use other applications
that are also commonly used by
foresters in Aceh such as Avenza
Maps and Mapinr.
• However, the deforestation alerts
are available in Forest Watcher.
Avenza Maps
Mapinr

27. Visualization on
Google My Maps
• Adding ground check data
from the field in an Excel
format.
• Each finding point has its
database and photos.
• Overlay with GLAD Alerts
data and field tracks.

28. HOW THE NEW FOREST
WACHER SUPPORTS OUR WORK
• New features in FW that are more stable and can
make forest monitoring easier.
• No longer need to carry a compass, GPS or printed
maps. We can just use Forest Watcher.
• The team can get deforestation alerts information
more quickly (weekly) instead of waiting for the
field guide maps that we usually make every
month.

29. AGENDA
• Overview of Forest
Watcher (FW)
• Demo: How to Use FW
• User Presentations
• Conclusion
• Q&A
Photo: World Resources Institute

30. Conclusion
Forest Watcher Resources
• Help Center
• Tutorials, key definitions, webinars, and
FAQs
• Ask questions, provide feedback, or
report bugs
• Contact Us: forestwatcher@wri.org
• Community Forum
• Forest Watcher community forum theme:
• Best practices, tips, latest updates, etc.
• Users can post stories and engage with
other users
Don't forget to complete our webinar survey to
share your feedback!

31. THANK YOU! Questions?
Colin Stief
Senior Product
Manager
Global Forest Watch
Gabrielle Nussbaum
Senior Manager
Sustainable Landscapes
& Nature-Based
Solutions
Isabela Barriga
Engagement Specialist
Global Forest Watch
MODERATOR
Tatiana Bogdanova
Product Specialist
Global Forest Watch
Lukmanul Hakim
GIS Manager
HAkA Foundation
Jorge Fachin
GIS Manager
AMPA
Agung Dwinurcahya
GIS and Spatial
Coordinator​
HAkA Foundation