Context
The National Forest Inventory (IFN) covers mainland France and Corsica. Overseas forests, which account for one-third of France’s forest area and are home to exceptional biodiversity, do not benefit from harmonised monitoring despite legal obligations (2014 Agriculture and Food Law, 2021 Climate Resilience Law). The State, via the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty (MASA), has mandated the National Forestry Office (ONF) and the National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN) to design a methodology adapted to the specificities of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and Mayotte (DROM).
The ONF entrusted this study to its subsidiary ONF International (ONFI) in 2025.
Activities carried out
The ultimate objective of the project is to propose one or more scenarios for inventory methods, with costed roadmaps, for the implementation of the IFN in the five overseas departments and regions covered by the study.
Given the specific characteristics of these territories, this study will assess how to integrate new technologies into this inventory, in particular remote sensing, deep learning and new methods for monitoring flora and fauna biodiversity.
The project in figures
1/3
French forests are overseas: biodiversity and major forest heritage
5
DROM covered: French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Mayotte
9
experts
14
months of work
Project details
The project is based on a step-by-step, scientific approach, combining local and international expertise.
The work phases include engaging institutional and scientific stakeholders, developing sampling protocols tailored to the realities of overseas territories, and integrating innovative technologies such as remote sensing and artificial intelligence.
The study also includes field trials to validate the feasibility of the proposed methods and ensure their reproducibility across the five overseas departments and regions concerned.
Training session on testing protocols
Field mission in French Guiana
French Guiana — ADNE training course on water management
Reunion — field data collection
Expected results
Analyses and quantified scenarios for the overseas IFN
The project delivered:
- Consolidated analyses of the data collected.
- Operational inventory scenarios tailored to the specific constraints and challenges of the overseas departments and regions.
- Recommendations for the implementation of a robust, statistically valid and reproducible overseas IFN.
- Budget
- 1M d'Euros
- Partners
- Cirad, CNRS, IRD, Globeo, Geofit, Terea, IGN
- Beneficiaries
- French Institutions
- Donor
- ONF
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