Forests are essential to the health and well-being of our planet. A source of oxygen, they purify the air we breathe, provide homes to three fourths of terrestrial biodiversity and help us withstand climate change. The world’s forests are a precious resource that must be protected for CLS Group’s subsidiary, SIRS.
One third of Earth’s land areas are today covered with forests, a percentage that has remained relatively stable for the past 15 years, according to the FAO 2018 State of the World’s Forests report, even if, in some regions of the world, forests are in decline.
Protecting French forests
n France, forest knowledge is relegated to the National Institute of Geographical and Forest Information (IGN). Every year, measurements and observations are carried out on the ground, all over France, on about 7 000 plots.
It is on the basis of these national surveys that annual publications on the state of French forests are drawn up.
For many years, SIRS, a subsidiary of CLS, has participated to this knowledge base and monitoring of French forests (for the IGN ex IFN). As such, its teams carry out field inventory missions on the national territory, at the moment they are in Alpes Maritimes.
The results of the national inventory are published once a year and contribute to the BD TOPO.
To learn more:
Forest inventory : https://inventaire-forestier.ign.fr/
World State of the Forests report : http://www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/
