Global Observation for Forest Cover and Land Dynamics (GOFC/GOLD) is a coordinated international effort working to provide ongoing space-based and in-situ observations of the land surface for the sustainable management of terrestrial resources and to obtain an accurate, reliable, quantitative understanding of the terrestrial carbon budget. The ESA GOFC-GOLD Land Cover Project Office (GOFC-GOLD LC PO) was established in February 2004. It is involved in a number of international activities & initiatives.
Read more about the specific objectives.

We are incredibly sorry to announce that Tony Janetos has recently passed away. He was the GOFC-GOLD Program Chair from 2010-2019 and was involved for many years before that making significant and invaluable contributions to the community. You can read a memorium of him here.

Significant contributions of the GOFC-GOLD LC Office

REDD+ training materials and training workshops
Sourcebook for Biodiversity Monitoring in Tropical Forests
REDD+ Sourcebook
Joint workshop with WWF on REDD+
Joint report with CIFOR on Capacity development in national forest monitoring
Global country capacity assessment report (REDD+)
UNFCCC technical paper on costs for REDD+ monitoring
GTOS Land Cover ECV
Land Cover ECV user requirements assessment document
GEO Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI)
Global Land Cover Validation