GEOS-EUDR – Technical and Policy B ie No.1
Ensu ing EUDR Compliance: E alua ing Global
Fo es Maps o De o es a ion Moni o ing
F ei as Beye J., Kö hke M., Lippe M.
GEOS-EUDR Technical and policy b ie No.1
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Execu i e Summa y
The Eu opean Union De o es a ion Regula ion (EUDR) manda es ha p oduc s de i ed om he commodi ies
bee , cocoa, co ee, soy, imbe , ubbe , palm oil and hei de i a es mus be de o es a ion- ee a e 31
Decembe 2020. This egula ion places new demands on bo h p oduce s and egula o s o p o e and e i y
compliance using spa ial da a and maps.
This echnical and policy b ie d aws on a sys ema ic e iew o 21 global o es ee co e da ase s and hei
assessmen o applicabili y as EUDR- e e ence maps (F ei as Beye e al. 2025)
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. Only eigh da ase s mee key
spa ial, empo al, and de ini ional c i e ia o EUDR compliance checks, and only wo da ase s ma ched all
h ee EUDR o es de ini ion c i e ia: canopy co e (≥10%), ee heigh (≥5m), and minimum mapping uni (≥0.5
ha). The indings e eal signi ican o e - and unde es ima ion pa e ns, inconsis encies in o es de ini ions, and
egional da a limi a ions. The b ie p o ides ac ionable ecommenda ions o ope a o s and compe en
au ho i ies when applying map p oduc s o de o es a ion e i ica ion, and ou lines key insigh s o decision and
policy make s how o suppo de o es a ion moni o ing.
The assessmen o global o es and ee co e da ase s e eals ha da ase selec ion ma e s immensely o
EUDR compliance. While Ea h Obse a ion maps o e powe ul ools o moni o ing, hei limi a ions (especially
ega ding esolu ion, o es de ini ions, and egional sui abili y) mus be ca e ully conside ed. This echnical and
policy b ie unde sco es he need o con ex -awa e, mul i-sou ce e i ica ion app oaches, and s onge
coo dina ion be ween da a p o ide s, map use s such as ope a o s, and egula o s.
Backg ound o s udy
The EUDR is pa o he EU’s G een Deal and Fo es S a egy, and equi es ha commodi ies om Ca le, Cocoa,
Co ee, Oil palm, Rubbe , Timbe , Soy and hei de i a es be “de o es a ion- ee,” meaning ha no de o es a ion
occu ed in he p oduc ion a eas a e 31 Decembe 2020.
Ve i ica ion unde he EUDR elies on submi ing due diligence s a emen s ha mus include he geoloca ion o
p oduc ion plo s, including a s a emen ha he impo ed commodi y o de i ed p oduc is de o es a ion- ee.
Ea h Obse a ion da a, such as global o es and ee co e maps may se e as p ima y e e ence ool in such a
case, al hough many o hese maps we e no designed wi h legal compliance in mind. Such da ase s di e widely
in hei spa ial esolu ion, de ini ion o o es , and capaci y o dis inguish be ween na u al o es s and
plan a ions.
To add ess his gap, F ei as Beye e al. (2025) e alua ed 21 publicly a ailable global da ase s, examining hei
i ness o EUDR- ela ed e i ica ion, by assessing hei alignmen wi h he EUDR’s o es de ini ion and e e ence
yea , as well as su iciency o spa ial esolu ion and accu acy (see Figu e 1 o me hodological app oach).
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F ei as Beye , J., Kö hke, M., & Lippe, M. (2025). Assessing he Sui abili y o A ailable Global Fo es Maps as Re e ence Tools o
EUDR-Complian De o es a ion Moni o ing. Remo e Sensing 17, 3012. DOI: 10.3390/ s17173012
GEOS-EUDR Technical and policy b ie No.1
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Figu e 1. Schema ic o e iew o he assessmen p ocess. S ep 1 ga he s all a ailable global o es /non- o es (FNF)
and land use/land co e (LULC) maps, esul ing in 21 da ase s. S eps 2 and 3 desc ibe he assessmen s used o
e alua e each da ase ’s sui abili y o he EUDR, including c i e ia applied o exclude unsui able maps. No e: This
s udy e alua ed maps p oduced and published up o No embe 2024
Key Findings
1. Only eigh ou o 21 global maps mee key spa ial, empo al, and de ini ional c i e ia o EUDR compliance
checks (see Figu e 2 o e e ences o he 8 maps).
2. Only wo da ase s—JRC GFC 2
2
and PALSAR-2 FNF
3
, ma ched all h ee EUDR o es de ini ion c i e ia:
canopy co e (≥10%), ee heigh (≥5m), and minimum mapping uni (≥0.5 ha) (see Figu e 2 o mo e de ails).
3. Accu acy Bias and Misclassi ica ion Risks
• O e es ima ion Risk: Mos maps sugges a endency o classi y non- o es a eas as o es , leading o
alse posi i es (indica ed by a p oduce 's accu acy/ use accu acy a io > 1
4
).
• Unde es ima ion Risk: T ee heigh maps po en ially exclude spa se o d y o es s (indica ed by
nega i e mean bias e o s).
4. Regional Va iabili y in Map Es ima es
Compa ed o FAO Fo es Resou ce Assessmen 2020 da a
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:
• Fo Eu ope and No h Ame ica, o es a eas a e la gely o e es ima ed (up o +86%)
• Fo A ica, some da ase s signi ican ly unde es ima e o es s (up o -38%).
• Fo Sou h Ame ica, mo e consis en es ima es exis , especially in dense o es zones, bu a high isk o
class con usion exis s in ee-based sys ems, such as ag o o es y, plan a ions and egene a ing o es s.
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Global Fo es Co e map o yea 2020 (GFC 2020) e sion 2 (Bou goin e al. 2023, h p://da a.eu opa.eu/89h/e554d6 b-6340-
45d5-9309-332337e5bc26)
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Global 25 m Resolu ion PALSAR-2 Fo es /Non-Fo es Map (FNF) Ve .2.0.0 (Shimada e al. 2014, DOI: 10.1016/j. se.2014.04.014)
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Fo me ho ological de ails see F ei as-Beye e al. 2025.
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h ps://www. ao.o g/ o es - esou ces-assessmen /pas -assessmen s/ a-2020/en/
GEOS-EUDR Technical and policy b ie No.1
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5. De ini ion and S uc u al Challenges
• None o he global maps assessed in his s udy ully mee he EUDR equi emen s in e ms o
de ini ions and accu acy.
• Fo es de ini ions a y by coun y and da ase , in oducing misma ches in classi ica ion h esholds.
• Almos all maps de ine plan a ions and ag o o es y as o es , which may no align wi h he EUDR’s
egula o y scope.
• Da ase s lack g anula i y o de ec smallholde plo s o mixed-use landscapes, c i ical o some
commodi ies like cacao, co ee, o ubbe .
Figu e 2. O e iew o he eigh sho lis ed da ase , p o ing de ails on EUDR and accu acy me ics, complemen ed by
addi ional quali a i e insigh s. No e: Two da ase s, ESRI-10m and PALSAR-2 FNF 2.0.0 did no epo all me ics;
S ong Ma ch indica es ull alignmen wi h op imum alues (yea = 2020, esolu ion ≤ 10 m, 3 pa ame e s ma ched);
Pa ial Ma ch e lec s mode a e bu no op imal alignmen (yea 2015–2020, esolu ion 10–30 m, 1–2 pa ame e s
ma ched); Ma ginal Ma ch deno es e y weak alignmen (yea = 2015, esolu ion = 30 m, no pa ame e s ma ched).
Access and u he in o ma ion on each sho lis ed da ase can be ound in:
h ps://doi.o g/10.3220/253-2025-90
GEOS-EUDR Technical and policy b ie No.1
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Recommenda ions o ope a o s and compe en au ho i ies when
applying map p oduc s o de o es a ion e i ica ion
1. Use o Be e -Fi ing Map Re e ences
• Using he eigh sho lis ed da ase s a he han he wen y-one da ase s e iewed is a mo e eliable way
o ensu ing compliance wi h EUDR e minology. Howe e , no single da ase ully mee s all EUDR
equi emen s on a global scale, and all he assessed maps con ain di e en le els o unce ain y. While
some maps pe o m be e han o he s, he eigh sho lis ed maps appea o be less sui ed o he
con ex o Eu ope and No h Ame ica, and some subs an ially unde es ima ing o es a eas in A ica.
2. Use Mul iple Map Da ase s
• Using a combina ion o Ea h Obse a ion maps o e a ange o mapping hemes (e.g., commodi y-
speci ic, o es ype, c op ype), wi h di e en spa ial esolu ions, da a sou ces (e.g., op ical and ada ),
and classi ica ion me hods, suppo s c oss- alida ion o de o es a ion- ee claims mo e e ec i ely.
3. P omo e Region-Speci ic Mapping
• I is no ad isable o only ely on global map p oduc s bu o double-check esul s wi h a ailable
local, na ional, o egion-speci ic in o ma ion. This can minimize alse posi i es and a oid alse
nega i es. This is pa icula ly impo an in da a-poo egions whe e high- esolu ion e e ence maps
inco po a ing locally alida ed o es de ini ions can p o ide a mo e eliable basis o e i ica ion.
Recommenda ions o policy and decision-make s
1. Building Moni o ing Capaci y
• Suppo ing he EU membe s a es’ na ional compe en au ho i ies o EUDR en o cemen wi h
aining and esou ces o assess de o es a ion isks using Ea h Obse a ion ools. P omo e science-
d i en, public-p i a e collabo a ions o de eloping benchma king me hods and o suppo open
access o high-quali y geospa ial da a in s anda dized o ma s and h ough public eposi o ies.
2. Ha monize Fo es De ini ions
• Fos e in e na ional alignmen on o es classi ica ion s anda ds, especially on h esholds o canopy
co e , ee heigh , and minimum mapping uni . This would ease in e ope abili y ac oss da ase s and
be ween na ional and EU-le el compliance sys ems.
3. Encou age Use o Time-Se ies and Ale Sys ems
• Inco po a e dynamic moni o ing p oduc s (e.g., in eg a ed de o es a ion ale s a ailable on
h ps://www.global o es wa ch.o g) and commodi y-speci ic maps o cap u e in a-annual o es
change and plan a ion dynamics—impo an o e i ying de o es a ion and o es deg ada ion e en s.
GEOS-EUDR Technical and policy b ie No.1
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Pa ne
Funding
Con ac
Sugges ed ci a ion:
F ei as Beye , J., Kö hke, M., & Lippe, M. (2025). GEOS-EUDR: Technical and Policy B ie No.1. Zenodo.
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17287552
Johann Hein ich on Thünen-Ins i u
Bundesallee 50
38116 B aunschweig
Ge many
www. huenen.de
Tex , Figu es and Tables: ©2025 he au ho (s), Thünen Ins i u e. This is an open access publica ion dis ibu ed unde
he e ms and condi ions o he C ea i e Commons A ibu e on 4.0 In e na ional (CC BY 4.0) license
(h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/).
