James Richens

Geospatial data on the location of forests, types of land use and the existence of deforestation will be essential for the successful implementation of the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR). From 30 December, companies trading regulated commodities such as soy, beef and palm oil in the EU must conduct due diligence to ensure these products were not grown on deforested land or produced illegally. Competent authorities in EU countries responsible for enforcing the EUDR will have to conduct risk-based checks of commodity shipments.

There are a large and increasing number of publicly available ‘open’ datasets and products from government sources, research and civil society initiatives, as well as closed offerings from commercial service providers. However, challenges remain as these existing datasets were not originally developed for the purposes of the EUDR and hence no single dataset provides a complete picture or ‘silver bullet’ solution. This means that they are not necessarily aligned with the definitions and criteria used in the EUDR, and there are issues with limitations in mapping accuracy, difficulties in differentiating forests and perennial crops such as cocoa, and the complexity and fragmentation of the data landscape.

Despite these challenges, Trase's report shows that existing open datasets provide a cost-effective resource that can be used to credibly assess risks of non-compliance with the EUDR’s deforestation-free and legality requirements. However, companies and competent authorities using these datasets for the EUDR need to understand their limitations, what datasets are appropriate for different uses, and how to mitigate these issues through combining datasets. Moreover – especially for compliance with the legality requirement – consultation with local experts and a range of local stakeholders in producer countries is advisable to identify risks of illegality and assess evidence of legal compliance.

The report provides a useful overview of the range of publicly available global geospatial datasets on forest cover, deforestation and forest degradation, and commodity production areas, including case studies on national geospatial datasets for Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia, and the ways in which they can be effectively used for EUDR implementation and enforcement. The report was commissioned by ClientEarth with the generous support of the Tierra Pura Foundation.

Read the Trase report: Bellfield, H. (2025). The role of open geospatial data in assessing non-compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation. Trase. 