Mapping forests is crucial to the Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol operates on the basis that forests can be considered as 'sinks' of carbon, and national forest reserves can be set against permitted carbon dioxide emission levels. In support of Kyoto, ESA is developing space-based means of monitoring land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) with a Data User Programme project called Kyoto Inventory and the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) GSE Forest Monitoring service.