Information on forests is essential for the implementation of EU environmental policies as forests play a key role in aspects related to the protection of European ecosystems, biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, carbon sequestration and climate change.

FOREST is in charge of establishing a European Forest Data Centre (EFDAC) as the central point for forest information at European level in support to relevant EU policies, and as the basis of the European Forest Monitoring System proposed in the EU Forest Action Plan. The implementation of EFDAC will contribute to enhancing data harmonization and streamlining data collection, which will improve the reporting to international commitments such as the Ministerial Conference of the Protection of Forest in Europe (MCPFE), the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). EFDAC will be built on the basis of the information systems currently existing or under development and in compliance with the guidelines of the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE). In particular, these systems are the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the Forest Focus Data Platform, and the European Forest Information and Communication Platform (EFICP).

New methods and tools developed for forest and natural hazards monitoring (forest fires, storms, etc) will decisively contribute to the further development and implementation of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative.