National Forest Inventory

Landskogtakseringen

A systematic sample-based survey of the Norwegian forest, providing vital resource and environmental data for the whole country. It records information about growing stock and annual increment, and operating and environmental conditions.

The National Forest Inventory (NFI) started in 1919, triggered by concern and uncertainty about the conditions of the forests.
The scheme is based on a network of permanent sample plots, distributed in a grid across all of Norway – on both forested and unforested land. The plots are re-measured on a five-year rotation. On plots located on forest land or other land types with tree cover, all trees growing within a 250 m² plot are measured with their coordinates included, thus enabling time-series to be established at the tree level. In addition to stand volume, increment and tree species, a range of parameters are measured to provide information about e.g. site productivity, stand structure, forest health, forest operation conditions, and biological diversity.
The data serves as an important basis for national forest policy development and are used by both Governmental bodies and other public administration, as well as by the forest industry, research and teaching purposes, and national and international reporting. Also, development and testing of remote sensing applications is an important field of research within the NFI. The content of the inventory is regularly updated to meet new demands from the society.

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Domain

Inventory, monitoring

Keywords

Forest inventory; resources; development

Challenge addressed

3.- Activate private owners and cooperative forest management

Digital solution

Innovation

Country of origin

Norway