In many countries, this type of data is treated as confidential information. For example, the Gabonese government has an official map of logging concessions, which is not publicly available. Through careful examination of official records, our partners located an additional 90 concessions not on that map. We’ve been able to map 45…shown here in red. Now we can turn around and give the government better data, and at the same time make this information public.
Linked with this map is a database on the company that holds each license, their corporate affiliations, where they are operating, taxes paid, and so forth. Because Global Forest Watch tracks who is actually doing the logging, mining and other activities that threaten or impact on forests.
Our data indicate that in many areas of the world, a small number of companies control the future of our forests.
